


Daughter of the Sun

by VioletRoseLily



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Connieswap, Diamondswap, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Relationships, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Momswap, Opposites Attract, Parent-Child Relationship, Regret, Step-parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23499631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletRoseLily/pseuds/VioletRoseLily
Summary: Connie Heliodor Maheswaran's life is as normal as it can be for a girl with a gem on her chest and maybe that's why she chose to move into the gem temple, certainly not to get away from her bossy stepmother and her sometimes overbearing father that's for sure.She knows that her life will change dramatically but she's not prepared for Homeword coming back and the consequences and reveal of her mom's darkest secrets.
Relationships: Amethyst/Pearl (Steven Universe), Amethyst/Peridot (Steven Universe), Bismuth/Pearl (Steven Universe), Connie Maheswaran & Doug Maheswaran & Priyanka Maheswaran, Connie Maheswaran & Yellow Diamond, Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Doug Maheswaran/Priyanka Maheswaran, Doug Maheswaran/Yellow Diamond, Greg Universe/Original Female Character(s), Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe), Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Comments: 122
Kudos: 121





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an experiment: a fusion between a Momswap, a Diamondswap and a Connieswap done to explore how the characters would act differently from canon. Originally I was going to have Steven be Yellow Diamond's son and explore how his personality would be different and as much as I would have loved to try my hand at an Opposite Attracts for Yellow and Greg, I decided to do Connie as Doug would have raised his daughter with far more boundaries than Greg would have, not to mention the family dynamic would be different with Priyanka thrown in the mix.  
> This won't be a typical Momswap as you'll notice I have Bismuth instead of the usual Jasper. As for the gems, they won't be put in their regular Jasper = Garnet Lapis = Amethyst Peridot = Pearl.

Heliodor always had a plan. She always thought things through, she was always logical. She had a list of reasons for every choice she made. She refused to do anything unless it was completely foolproof. She refused to make any mistakes. 

The yellow gem had started a rebellion to protect the sapient creatures of Earth who had intrigued her so much. She had done all she could to get  Homeworld  to leave the colony behind. Countless gems on both sides of the war were shattered. And yet  Homeworld  persisted their fight despite logically it being a better idea just to leave Earth alone, and forget all about the embarrassment the planet had caused them. 

Eventually Heliodor got desperate and she decided the only way to get  Homeworld  to leave was if she did the unthinkable, and shattered a diamond. Or at least that was how it would look. Yellow Diamond’s once faithful servant, a gem she had created to be her spy even giving her lighting powers just like her diamond, had started a rebellion against  Homeworld. Then one frightful day that traitorous gem had managed to sneak up to her mistress, somehow bypassing all her guards, and shattered her in front of her entire court, leaving nothing but yellow shards scattered on the ground. 

Heliodor had worked hard to make the death scene as realistic as possible, not wanting there to be any holes in the gems' accounts of Yellow Diamond’s “death” even taking care to be seen picking up the shards so no one would be looking for them afterwards. She had believed that the diamonds would be so horrified that diamonds were proven to be breakable. They would be so humiliated that they would immediately call off their armies and abandon the planet to the Crystal Gems. 

She was never wrong, never making a mistake until she did. She had miscalculated how angry the diamonds would be. It seemed that they were not willing to let the insult that was Yellow Diamond’s death go unpunished. 

But the yellow gem had little time to scold herself as she quickly surrounded the gems close to her with a yellow force field that would hopefully shield them from the diamonds’ attack. 

As she closed her eyes, barking orders for the gems beside her to brace themselves, she remembered the first time she had learned that her lighting could protect instead of just being able to hurt gems. She had stumbled on some small and furry Earth creature defending its home from a much larger creature. 

Impressed by this creature determination and fierceness, Heliodor felt an urge to protect it and lighting sprang from her fingertips, creating a dome that the larger creature could not break, no matter how hard it hit it. 

Focusing on that same feeling of protectiveness, Heliodor held the barrier over herself and the gems with her. The diamond’s attack hit hard but the yellow gem did not falter, allowing them to emerge unharmed. 

“Is it over?” Lapis wondered, glancing up at the sky worriedly, looking to see if she could spot any of  Homeworld’s  ships. 

“What was that? Or more importantly what was that supposed to do?” Peridot asked, glancing up at Heliodor, wondering if she had the answers. 

Heliodor did not reply to either question; instead she took her anger out on a few trees nearby. 

“How did I not see this coming! I thought they would just leave but of course they didn’t. I should have known better. What was I thinking?” she ranted as she punched a tree, causing it to break and a bird’s nest to fall down. 

Lapis quickly used her water powers to catch it, gently trying to sooth the baby birds inside it before turning towards her leader. “Stop! Taking your anger out on defenseless trees are not going to solve anything!” she exclaimed. 

“Lapis,” Peridot hissed, looking at Heliodor worriedly, fearing she might turn her anger onto them.  Although she was not like the Diamonds, shattering gems for the smallest mistakes or speaking out of turn, her anger was still fear inducing, all she had to do was glare or raise her voices and gems would be shaking like twigs in the wind. 

Heliodor was their leader first and friend second. She didn’t expect them to bow to her or treat her like she was better than them but she still commanded respect in all other aspects. 

“They should have only punished me. I was going to fake my shattering so they had their revenge and then they should have just left Earth alone but I never considered that they would attack everyone,” Heliodor admitted. Although she didn’t acknowledge Lapis words, she did let her fists drop to her side, not harming anymore trees. 

Sensing the birds would be safe from Helidor’s rage now, Lapis used her water wings to put the nest on a different tree before flying back to her friends. 

“Hel, the diamonds are unpredictable. Sometimes they are kind and sometimes they are cruel,” Tiger’s Eye pointed out. As she spoke the apricot gem touched the cracks on her face that covered one of her four eyes as she recalled a particular diamond’s fury. “It’s clear they wanted to punish all of us for Yellow Diamond’s death. There is no way you could have known what would happen.” 

“Besides we don’t even know if their attack even worked. Let’s find our friends and then we can figure it out what happened and what we are going to do about this,” Bismuth suggested.  Although she was usually a fight first, think later kind of gem, even she knew there was nothing they could do until they found their friends. It wasn’t like there were any Homeworld gems left for them to interrogate anyway. 

“Right, let’s split up and meet back here once we have enough information to plan our next move,” Heliodor agreed, her hands still balled into fists. “Keep your gem communicators on. If you see a  Homeworld  gem, do not engage until you have contacted me. Is that understood?” 

The four gems nodded before each of them took a warp to different sectors of the Earth. 

Once she was completely alone, Heliodor turned to the sky, glaring at the stars as if they were diamonds. 

“Forgive me but I couldn’t tell you and still won’t tell you because I know you will never let me stay on Earth if you were to ever find out. I will find a way to undo whatever you did without you. I don’t need you and you don’t need me,” Heliodor whispered to the air. She felt tears dripping down her face. She half-wished Blue was here as she could blame it on her powers. “At first I was ashamed of how I was acting and now I just want to be Heliodor, the protector of Earth instead of Yellow Diamond, a conqueror of worlds, destroyer of life.” 

* * *

White Diamond groaned in annoyance as tears began to spill down her face. 

“Not again,” she muttered, glancing at the blue palace, wondering if there was a way to make Blue Diamond’s palace Blue-proof as all of  Homeworld  was finding their work interrupted by Blue’s constant tears. 

White Diamond glanced down at the white Ruby that stood next to her before sending her to Pink’s palace, requesting that Pink come to see her right away. 

As she blinked through her tears, White grimly wished she had been the first diamond to emerge as it would mean she would be the leader of  Homeworld  and gems would never fall out of line if she was in charge. There would be no rebellion and no diamond would have ever been shattered not on her watch. She also would never have let her feelings get in the way of getting the job done. 

But no, Blue Diamond, the oldest diamond in existence was their supreme leader and although she was a bit more benevolent than White would have ever been, the other diamond had to admit she was a capable leader unless she fell into depression than all of  Homeworld  was suddenly drowning in tears. 

The only reason she left her palace after Yellow’s death was so they could use their beam to wipe out the miserable gems on that forsaken planet. 

Pink had not joined them as she blanched at punishing other gems for one gem’s crime. She even said that it would be better just to find Heliodor and destroy her, eagerly offering to be the one to shatter the murderous gem who had shattered their beloved Yellow who had so much potential. 

The pink diamond didn’t seem to realize that in order to keep others from destroying their society, the entire rebellion would have to be made an example of. In fact, White hoped that soon the Earth would be completely destroyed, taking gems that might have escaped the destruction beam with it. 

It took twenty minutes before Pink Diamond strode into White’s throne room, with the Ruby nowhere to be found. 

“Where’s my Ruby?” White Diamond demanded, frowning at her fellow diamond. 

“I’ve told you a hundred times not to send your puppet to my palace as she creeps me out,” Pink answered, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “so, I  poofed  and bubbled her.” 

“You had no right to do that. She was my toy, not yours,” White Diamond snarled, having an urge to slap Pink across the face. Despite being the third youngest diamond, Pink seemed to think she had more authority over White. It didn’t help that Blue usually sided with her. “Blue gave her to me to punish, remember?” 

The Ruby had broken one of  Homeworld’s  most sacred laws and while her co-defendant was locked away in a prison she could never get out of, White had still chosen to use her powers on the ruby so if anyone else got the idea in their heads to flaunt their leader’s laxness on her laws, their punishment would be so bad, they would wish they had been shattered. 

“Well then you should have taken better care of her,” Pink shot back with a smirk. “Now what you want, White? I have important things to attend to.” 

“You mean like teaching that defective Amethyst of yours how to be normal,” White sneered, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know why you bother. If she were in my court, I would have just shattered her.” 

“She’s in my court and Blue decreed that I could do whatever I wanted,” Pink pointed out smugly. 

Another thing that would have been different if White Diamond was in charge. Off-Colors and defective gems would be shattered immediately. Blue Diamond liked to give them a chance to prove themselves before deciding whether or not they fit into  Homeworld’s  society, shattering those who could not hope to be useful. 

However, she also liked giving her fellow diamonds the freedom to do whatever they liked with their courts as long as they ran it by her first. 

“I just hope you won’t break her like that other gem of yours,” White jeered. 

She smirked when she saw Pink flinch. Pink always acted as though her weakness, her “ _compassion”_ for lesser gems, somehow made her better than White. And yet she had cracked countless of her subjects’ gems when they were standing too close to her when she had a temper tantrum whether they were the cause of her anger or not. One of her gems had not been able to heal as she was too traumatized by being hurt by her diamond over and over again. 

"If you just sent for me to pick a fight, then I’m leaving. I have better things to do than bicker with you,” Pink said with a huff, folding her arms over her chest. 

“Out of the two of us, Blue is more likely to listen to you,” White said, taking care to hide the resentment in her voice. It angered her that Blue doted on Pink and Yellow, barely even noticing White’s many accomplishments. “I was hoping you could convince her to stop crying and disturbing everyone.”    


“Well I’m sure Blue is _so_ sorry that she is disturbing you but in case you missed it, YELLOW IS DEAD!” Pink shouted, suddenly furious. 

“Life goes on, Pink, we can’t just wallow in misery because of Yellow’s death. We must move on and show our subjects that we are not weak,” White pointed out. 

Pink slammed into White, pushing her into a wall. Within seconds, she had her sword at White’s throat. 

“After all this time have you still not learned that our emotions don’t make us weak,” she snarled. “I would thank you to remember that while you are in charge of the military, I am the one who makes the soldiers that make up your army and unlike you, I have learned how to fight.” 

  
White said nothing. She merely headbutted Pink and kicked at Pink’s hand, knocking the sword out of her grip. Then White wrestled Pink to the ground, using her entire body to pin her down. 

“Oh, sweet Starlight, your soldiers have clearly taught you nothing,” White purred. “You couldn’t beat me in a fight even if I had my gem cracked.” 

Pink growled as White let her up. She picked up her sword and stormed out, punching the wall as she did so. 

White just shook her head in exasperation as she glanced down at the reports that she had taken from Earth. 

* * *

_Yellow had been so absorbed with what she was doing, she failed to notice she had a visitor until her pearl had announced White Diamond three times._

_“Forgive me, White, I was concentrating so hard, I forgot that there were other gems around me,” Yellow apologized._

_“What are you up to, Sunlight?” White asked, a hint of affection in her cold tone._

_“An experiment,” Yellow replied, sitting at her desk as she pushed a few gem shards together. They formed into two hands. Yellow let out a groan of disgust as she_ _poofed_ _the disembodied hands._

_“And exactly what is the purpose of this experiment?” White wondered with a raised eyebrow._

_“We lose many good gems when we conquer worlds. If we could somehow put their shards back together, maybe they’ll come back stronger than before,” Yellow explained._

_“That is a nice thought, Sunlight, but that would take up too much of our valued time. It is better to just move on to the next gems,” White told her, patting her head._

_“Gems can get strong if they are just given the chance,” Yellow grumbled._

_“Sunlight, gems are supposed to be perfect the minute they are created,” White told her firmly. “If not, they are nothing more than mistakes that should be dealt with accordingly.”_

_“Well even if they aren’t useful whole, they could still be useful. After all, can you imagine a weapon made entirely out of gem shards. Just put them in the center of a world, let them reform and boom, goodbye world?” Yellow asked rhetorically, grinning. “Our enemies wouldn’t stand a chance.”_

_“Don’t tell Blue that, they’d probably lecture you about how that would be a waste of resources that our Empire so desperately needs or Pink would go on about how cruel that would be to the organic life that she will be putting in her many zoos,” White remarked, rolling her eyes._

_Yellow smirked at her. “And that’s why you’re my favorite,” she laughed._

_“If you tell anyone, I’ll deny it but you’re my favorite too,” White whispered conspiratorially, patting Yellow’s head. “You are a lot like me, only smaller and yellow.”_

* * *

White blinked back tears----and without the ruby, she couldn't be certain her tears were Blue's fault this time---- as she continued to read the reports of the little surprise she had left deep in Earth’s core, unseen by the Terran Gems. 

It would take a long time but someday Earth and whatever gems were left on that miserable planet would be destroyed by Yellow’s own super weapon. 

Pink and Blue thought that White didn’t care, but in truth she did care, and she would be sure that her little Sunlight was avenged. 

* * *

After her talk with White, Pink stormed back to her palace, enraged by White’s actions and her callousness. 

Everyone knew that White was just a unfeeling gem who barely cared about anyone but herself. She always treated Yellow as though she was one of those organic creatures Pink loved to play with. 

When Pink returned to her room, she was surprised to see that her Pearl had picked up a sword and was now using it against the fighting dummy. There was no Amethyst in sight so it was clear she wasn’t trying to teach the purple gem as Pink had been doing before White had interrupted her. 

Her Pearl slashed her sword with such grace and finesse that Pink couldn’t help but be memorized by her for a few minutes. She watched her Pearl in fascination, thinking that if a gem were to attack right now, her Pearl would surely win. 

After all, no one would suspect a pearl to be capable of fighting and if given the proper chance, her Pearl could be her most capable fighter. Perhaps if Yellow’s Pearl had such experience, she would have been able to stop Heliodor from shattering Yellow. 

“Oh! My diamond, forgive me!” Pearl exclaimed, dropping the sword, letting it fall with a clatter when she spotted her diamond standing the doorway, her hands covering her mouth. “The other Amethysts wanted to take 8XM with them to visit your zoos. As they already had your permission, I thought you wouldn’t mind and then I was cleaning up when I picked up the sword and I just wanted to see how it would feel to fight.” 

“And how does it feel?” Pink asked, thinking this might be the first time Pearl had ever expressed her thoughts. 

“My feelings are unimportant,” Pearl replied after a moment. 

“That is not an answer. I order you to tell me how it felt,” Pink commanded, her tone broaching no argument. 

“It felt exhilarating, my diamond,” Pearl admitted. “I felt like I had found my purpose.” 

“And what is your purpose?” Pink inquired curiously. 

“Serving you,” Pearl answered without hesitation. Pink rolled her eyes and turned away. “I mean serving you as your fiercest warrior, protecting you from those who might do you harm.” 

“And you think you can do that better than my Amethysts and Jaspers?” Pink asked, turning back around, a plan forming in her mind. 

“I don’t know. But I am willing to try,” Pearl replied. 

“Then I shall have a tournament. If you can defeat the strongest members of my court, I will declare you as my top enforcer. Allowing all to see that the gems of my court are stronger than any other gems in this Empire,” Pink Diamond declared. 

White thought that giving worthless gems a chance was a waste of time but if Pink could prove that even the lowest of the low could be strong, it would prove White was wrong and that was something Pink would enjoy very much. 

“I shall not let you down, my diamond!” Pearl proclaimed, tears in her eyes as she bowed to Pink, her face glowing with devotion. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anybody want to venture a guess who the Lapis is in this scenario? Any thoughts on Tiger's Eye?  
> As you can see Homeworld is a little less strict when Blue is in charge, as a gem who is supposed to be diplomatic it wouldn't have made sense for her rules to be like White's rules. You'll also notice that Pink Diamond has the potential of Rose Quartz but she is not and while I am always wanting to make her relationship with Pearl more healthy, this will be the one story where it is most certainly not hence why Bispearl is the only Pearl pairing listed.  
> Poll time:  
> I can't decide between these three names for Yellow's Crystal Gems  
> A. Sunshine Gems.  
> B. Terran Gems  
> C. Crystal Gems.  
> D. Other (please write a suggestion if you choose this one).


	2. Not Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie gets in trouble with school and decides it is time to make a change.

Connie Heliodor Maheswaran loved being half gem, loved the idea that one day she would lead her mother’s team: The Terran Gems to glorious victory just like the heroine of _The Sprit Morph Saga._

However sometimes her powers felt more like a burden than a gift. She was not a girl who got upset often but whenever she did, she had a tendency to shoot electricity from her hands, cause city wide blackouts and destroy whatever she was holding.

The school that she went to didn’t seem to understand that she never meant cause damage, it was just her powers going out of control. The final straw was when she accidentally broke a kid’s arm. 

“I’m sorry, Doctor and Mrs. Ma----”

“I am Doctor Maheswaran,” Priyanka corrected him sharply, her eyes narrowed. “My husband is Mr. Maheswaran.”

The principal cleared his throat, embarrassed but unwilling to acknowledge his mistake. “Our school has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to violence,” he continued.

“I see and what’s your school’s policy on sexual assault?” Doug asked coldly.

“Excuse me?” the principal spluttered, sounding flustered.

“According to her teacher, the boy kept trying to kiss Connie,” Doug informed him, crossing his arms over his chest. “When he refused to stop despite my daughter clearly telling him no, Connie defended herself from being further assaulted.”

“With all due respect, Mr. Maheswaran, he was only eight and he didn’t know any better.”

“So is Connie,” Priyanka countered, keeping her tone measured but there could be no mistaking the steely undertone. 

“Yes, but he does not have super strength or other dangerous powers,” the principal pointed out.

“So you are discriminating against my daughter. Well then, this conversation is over. You’ll be hearing from our lawyer,” Doug said in a deathly calm voice, glaring daggers at the man as he and Priyanka got up and walked out of the principal’s office where Connie was waiting for them. Doug managed to plaster on a smile for her. “Come on sweetie, let’s pack up your stuff and get out of here.”

Connie had already said her goodbyes to the few teachers who didn’t see her as some sort of problem dangerous child so she only needed to grab her things and follow her father and her stepmother to the car.

As they drove home, Doug continued ranting about the school and the boy’s parents who apparently were threatening to sue if they didn’t get money. Any other child would be pleased how her dad was on her side: Connie was not every other child.

Considering the boy’s parents had hospital bills to pay and it was Connie’s fault, of course her dad should pay for it (if it was feasible for her to do so, Connie would take a part time job to pay him back). Not to mention the school was right, she was dangerous because she couldn’t control her gem powers.

“You know if I was living with the gems, this wouldn’t be a problem,” Connie interjected as they drove up to their house. “They could train me on how to control my powers and home school me.”

“Honey, you are part human as much as you are part gem and that means you should have a normal childhood,” Priyanka said in probably what she assumed was a soothing tone.

If Connie was to be fair-minded, she might have given her stepmother the benefit of the doubt that she was not trying to talk down to Connie or be condescending.

However right now Connie was tired.

She was tired of trying to control her temper so she didn’t cause a city-wide blackout or damage school property and hurting people.

She was tired of getting detention or getting kicked out for things she couldn’t control.

She was tired of her father and stepmother treating her like she wasn’t different from everybody else. Like she wasn’t special.

And as she usually did when she was tired, she lashed out.

“You’re not my mother! You don’t get a say in my life!” she shouted. Doug turned around in the passenger’s seat and opened his mouth, probably to scold her. Connie cut him off before he could: “She’s not my mother! My mother was a space rock named Heliodor, who gave me her gem and all the powers that came with it. You two can try and deny it all you want but I’m not normal! You can send me to another school but I’ll probably get kicked out of that school too because without the Terran Gems, I won’t be able to control my powers!”

With that, she undid her seatbelt, jumped out of the car and stormed into the house, tearing the door off the hinges as she did so. She threw a furious look at the adults in the car as she carefully put the door down, stomped up the stairs, went into her room and very carefully shut her bedroom door.

As Connie collapsed onto her bed, she couldn’t help but think that what had just happened summed up her entire life. Trying to bottle up her feelings so she wouldn’t damage anything only to end up doing so anyway because she couldn’t handle it.

Connie lifted her head up when she heard her phone ringing. Digging into her pockets she saw Peridot facetiming her.

“CONNIE! WHAT HAPPENED! ARE YOU OKAY! ARE YOU HURT!” Peridot shouted frantically.

“I’m fine, Peridot. Why?” Connie asked, bemused by the green gem’s antics. The last time she saw Peridot this upset was when Lapis had taken her flying.

“Well I was checking your school reports, making sure that the teachers were giving you the grades you deserve when I saw you had been expelled. I don’t know what that is but I assume it isn’t pleasant,” Peridot explained, calming down slightly.

“It just means I’m not allowed back there,” Connie explained with a sigh.

“Oh. Well who needs that institution of conformity anyway? Clearly, they were all jealous of your superior intelligence,” Peridot scoffed haughtily.

“More like they were afraid I’d kill them all,” Connie grumbled.

Peridot looked confused at that statement but before she could say anything else, the tablet was ripped from her hands and Lapis came onto the screen.

“Connie, I’m so glad you called. You’re never going to believe what job I got!” Lapis exclaimed excitedly.

“Lifeguard?” Connie guessed.

“I am very disappointed in that boring guess,” Lapis scolded her with a grin as she kept a firm grip on the tablet as Peridot used her metal powers to try and get it back. “But I’ll keep that in mind for next time. Anyway, Mayor Dewey wanted someone to paint a mural for his next mayor campaign and he picked me to do it.”

“Lapis Lazuli, give me back my tablet! Connie is feeling bad about herself and has chosen me to give her a pep talk!” Peridot exclaimed, ignoring the fact that she called Connie not the other way around.

“What? Who made you feel bad about yourself! Tell me their names and I will deal with them the Water Witch way,” Lapis declared. It might have been Connie’s imagination but she could have sworn she saw the clouds begin to darken behind the blue gem.

“No Water Witch needed. I’m fine,” Connie assured her, trying to smile but only managing a grimace.

“Is that Connie?” a new voice asked. “Let me say hi to her.” Seconds later Bismuth appeared on the screen. “Hey Noodles, how’s it hanging?”

“Apparently not well. She was kicked out of school,” Peridot informed the gem.

Connie groaned, really wishing Peridot would stop bringing that up.

“WHO KICKED HER!” Lapis shouted, a clap of thunder booming behind her.

“Not literally, Lazuli,” Peridot snapped, rolling her eyes. “Now give me my tablet back!”

“No, I’m talking to Connie!”

“I was talking to her first before you rudely interrupted!”

“So what’s going on, Noodles?” Bismuth asked taking the tablet from Lapis as she and Peridot continued to argue.

“Josh kept saying I was his girlfriend, trying to kiss me and put his arm around me even though I told him to stop it so I grabbed his arm to make him stop but I grabbed it too hard and I broke his arm,” Connie explained, somberly, flinching as she remembered the looks of horror and fear on the faces of her classmates, something that made her want to cry.

“You’ve been bottling up your emotions again, haven’t you?” Bismuth turned the tablet to reveal Tiger’s Eye sitting in the sand in a meditation pose, one she did not get up from as she spoke. “I told you before: the more you bottle up your emotions, the bigger the explosion is when you reach a tipping point. You need to find a healthier way to let your anger out, Cub.”

“What I need is training,” Connie contradicted. “If I lived with you guys, I wouldn’t be getting into situations that caused my expulsion.”

Silence followed her statement. Bismuth turned the tablet back towards her, an unreadable expression on her face.

“Noodles, you know we love you and we would love to have you with us all the time but out of the four of us, only Peridot knows how to take care of a kid and it’s Peridot so that’s not saying much,” Bismuth said in gentle voice.

“HEY!”

“She has a point though. It took us a long time to be able to hold back when using our powers around humans so if we needed training, she most certainly does,” Lapis remarked. “Besides it would mean we get to see her every day.”

“That is a great point, Lapis, I vote for Connie living with us,” Peridot declared.

“Hey, it’s not like I don’t want her to live with us but it’s not up to us where Connie gets to live,” Bismuth said reasonably.

“Really is that what you thought when you kidnapped her when she was a baby?” Lapis asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“We all did that!” Bismuth protested, glaring at the blue gem. “Besides this isn’t about us. This is about what’s best for Connie.”

“Oh so suddenly you are a Connie expert,” Peridot shot back.

“Enough!” Tiger’s Eye bellowed, plucking the tablet from Bismuth’s hands. “Cub, we’ll talk to your dad and try to convince him to let you live with us but there will be no coming on missions until we say you’re ready.”

  
“Okay, I guess that’s fair,” Connie agreed, certain that she would prove herself ready in just weeks after being trained.  
  


They said their goodbyes and Connie ended the call placing her phone back on her bedside table before rolling over onto her back and staring at the ceiling.

She just hoped that the gems would succeed in convincing her dad and Priyanka to let her live with them.

Five minutes later, there was a knock on her door.

“Connie, sweetie, can I come in?” Doug asked.

Connie made a non-committal noise, very much doubting if she said no, her father would come in anyway. Much like Peridot, neither Priyanka nor Doug really understood the idea of privacy or at least where Connie was concerned.

Doug opened the door and walked in. “Whatcha doing?” he asked, titling his head as he saw his daughter laying upside down on her bed, staring at nothing.

“Counting the ceiling tiles,” Connie answered, not looking at him.

“Mind if I join you?”

Connie shrugged, moving over slightly. Doug lay down next to her, his hands on his chest twiddling his thumbs as he chose his next words.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you and Priyanka but I’m not wrong,” Connie told him before he could say anything.

“No, you’re not,” Doug agreed with a heavy sigh. “You’re right that you need help controlling your gem abilities and maybe I should have been more conscious of that. But you are half-human and I was afraid if you lived with the gems, you might lose sight of that.”

“You just don’t want me to be special,” Connie said grumpily. “You’d just prefer if I was normal.”

“I love you the way you are; whether you are half-gem or full human,” Doug told her, putting his arm around her and kissing the top of her hand. “You’re my little girl and I never want you to be anything other than you.”

“Then I can go live with the gems?” Connie asked hopefully, turning to face her father with puppy-dog eyes.

Doug sighed again. “Maybe,’ he said.

“Thank you, Dad!” Connie squealed, deciding that anything was better than a no. Maybe usually turned into yes, no meant he had made up his mind and nothing would change it.

“Sweetie, about Priyanka. I know she didn’t give birth to you but she’s been in our lives since you were six months old and she cares about you almost as much as I do. On our first date, you were all she could talk about,” Doug recalled, a fond smile tugging at his lips.

“Wow, Dad, you must be a great first date,” Connie teased him.

“I’ll have you know that I am an amazing first date. I swept your mom off her feet and considering how tall she was, it was not easy to do,” Doug joked, causing Connie to giggle.

“Doug, Tiger’s Eye is on the phone, she says she needs to talk to you,” Priyanka said from the doorway. She sounded annoyed and Connie could guess that she had asked the gem the purpose of the call only to be flatly told it was none of her business.

If it had been Bismuth, she would have come up with an excuse, not wanting to get Connie in trouble by saying she had gone over Priyanka and Doug’s heads over the whole living with the gems’ issues.

If it had been Peridot, she would have spilled everything including the fact that she hacked into the school computer to check on how Connie was doing.

If it had been Lapis, she would have probably gone on a tirade, demanding Priyanka to tell her who was responsible for hurting Connie and for kicking her out of school and why had they let it happen?

Tiger’s Eye, on the other hand, barely acknowledged Doug let alone Priyanka, only accepting that their presence in Connie’s life out of respect for her former leader. She would be just as blunt with Doug as she had been with Priyanka.

Doug gave Connie another kiss on her head before getting up, taking the phone from his wife and walking down the stairs so he could talk to Tiger’s Eye in the den.

Connie sat up as Priyanka folded her arms over her chest, an eyebrow raised.

“Did you ask them to convince us to let you live with them?” she asked sternly.

“Not in so many words,” Connie told her, averting her eyes.

“Connie, they are not your legal guardians. We are,” Priyanka reminded her.

“I know that but you can’t help me. The gems can,” Connie snapped, turning away from Priyanka. “You don’t even understand me.”

Priyanka sat down on her bed. “Connie, children need structure and rules to help them grew. They shouldn’t have to go around fighting gem monsters and whatever else the Terran Gems do. And I don’t like the idea of you living by yourself. Who would cook for you, help you with your homework, make sure you aren’t watching anything appropriate on TV?”

“I wouldn’t be alone. The gems would be there and besides they took care of me when you guys were on your honeymoon,” Connie reminded her.

“That was for a month and we ended up coming home early because you decided to find out where the warppad went,” Priyanka countered.

“It took Peridot fifteen minutes to find me,” Connie protested.

“You could have warped to the moon or the bottom of the ocean or a jungle or really you could have warped to a nice neighborhood and something bad still could have happened to you for all they knew,” Priyanka pointed out, her voice becoming louder. Realizing that, she took a deep breath, calming herself down. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Before Connie could say anything to that, Doug came back in, looking apprehensive.

“Priyanka, can I talk to you outside for a minute,” he said in quiet voice.

Priyanka frowned, guessing from her husband’s face that she would not be happy about this conversation, but she acquiesced, following him to another hallway, shutting Connie’s door behind her.

Despite the door being closed, their muffled voices managed to trickle in and Connie could hear things like “She's too young.” “They found her fifteen minutes later.” “Being a certified kindergartener does not qualify her to teach Connie.”

Finally, Doug and Priyanka returned, neither of them looking very happy.

“Okay, we decided that you can go live with the gems,” Doug announced.

“YES!” Connie shouted, jumping up on the bed, pumping her fist in the air. She quickly sat down when she saw Priyanka’s disapproving look. “I mean okay.”

“There will be some conditions,” Priyanka told her firmly. “There will be weekly check-ins and dinners. Bedtime is at the same time it is at our house, the rule about TV is also the same.”

“There will be no fighting gem monsters of any kind for least six years if not longer,” Doug continued. “You can train but that’s it.”

“Peridot will be getting a teaching license and researching how to run a homeschool. And I will also be teaching you and them how to apply first aid.” Priyanka finished.

“Okay,” Connie agreed, unable to stop herself from beaming at them. She leapt off the bed and hugged them both. “Thank you so much. I promise you won’t regret this.”

She was so excited she could barely even sit still for dinner. Soon she would be just like Lisa, off on her own adventure. It would be amazing.

That night she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of herself with a sword and shield, fighting off bad guys alongside the gems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think of the glimpse of the gems' personalities? What do you think of my characterization of Doug Priyanka and Connie?


	3. And Connie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie moves in.

“Okay listen up! We are ago for project “Welcome Home Connie” and everything needs to be perfect,” Peridot shouted even though the gems she was yelling at were standing a few feet away from her. “Connie will be moving in so we need to make sure has all the essentials. Nourishment, entertainment, plumbing, electronics, furniture---”

“Peridot, we know!” Lapis interrupted, rolling her eyes. “Not only do we already know that, her parents sent over a list of things Connie would need and you have been reading that list to us for the past two days as we went and got everything.” 

“Everything has to go perfectly,” Peridot said firmly. “We cannot make a mistake like the whole warppad incident.”

“You found her fifteen minutes later which would have been a shorter amount of time if you hadn’t been so busy freaking out for fourteen of those minutes,” Bismuth pointed out.

“How many times has Doug trusted with Connie only for something bad to happen to her?” Peridot asked. Lapis and Bismuth averted their eyes. “Exactly! It is miracle that Doug is even trusting us again so this time we cannot mess up!”

“Connie is no longer a helpless infant. She is older enough to stay out of trouble,” Tiger said gruffly. “You should have more faith in her.”

“It’s not her I don’t have faith in,” Peridot snapped back.

“Hey you once pushed a human off a roof to see if they could fly,” Lapis retorted.

“I am aware of that, Lazuli, but that is exactly my point. We are now Connie’s guardians, which means we have to make sure that she has everything she needs to survive so we do not cause her death!” Peridot exclaimed.

“Well that just got morbid,” Bismuth remarked, eyes wide. “Dot, you need to chill out. You freaking out is not gonna help us, okay? We can do this. You’ve read hundreds of child raising book. Lapis has had a few babysitting jobs that turned out mostly okay. I am willing to listen to Doug and Priyanka. The only one who might be a problem is Tiger.”

“Excuse me?” Tiger growled. “How would I be a problem?”

“The warppad incident happened because you were chasing away a group of seagulls,” Bismuth pointed out.

“They were invading our territory,” Tiger protested, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Not to mention you always try and act like she needs a bodyguard like you did when Heliodor was alive,” Peridot observed. 

“I swore myself to serve Heliodor and that service extends to her daughter,” Tiger snarled.

Bismuth rolled her eyes. “Can you go one minute without saying something that sounds like you are still a Homeworld stooge?”

“Don’t you dare start that again!” Tiger shouted, her hands curled into fists. “Just because I am loyal to my leader does not make me a stooge. It’s called being her knight.”

“Yeah, besides Bismuth, if anyone is subservient, it’s Peridot,” Lapis teased.

“HEY! I called Yellow Diamond a clod to her face. To. Her. Face!” Peridot exclaimed, jabbing her finger at Lapis’ stomach.

“You say that all the time, but I still don’t believe you,” Lapis told her bluntly.

“Oh yeah well---”

Before the argument could continue, the gems heard a shrill whistle and they turned around to see Connie, Priyanka and Doug standing in the doorway.

“Uh, welcome home Connie,” Lapis greeted her sheepishly.

“And these are the gems you expect to take care of our dau…” Priyanka trailed off, glancing at Connie, clearing her throat before amending her sentence. “Take care of Connie.”

“Come on, Priyanka, let’s just do an inspection of the house. I’m sure they will behave themselves now that Connie is here,” Doug assured her, glancing meaningfully at the gems.

“Dad, Bismuth is a professional builder, she probably made sure everything was up to code,” Connie said, shaking her head in exasperation.

“No she did not. I am the one who looked everything up and made sure----” Peridot began.

  
“Then maybe you should give them the tour,” Bismuth interrupted her through gritted teeth. “Starting with upstairs.”

“That is an excellent idea,” Peridot declared with a huge grin. “Please follow me.”

Doug took out his notebook and a pencil. On the notebook was a checklist and it was clear from the smug look on Peridot’s face that she intended on getting every single check. She eagerly led Priyanka and Doug up the stairs, showing them the paintings Lapis and she had created as décor.

“Still want to move in the madhouse with us?” Lapis asked teasingly as she went over to hug Connie.

“Are you kidding? Nothing would make me happier,” Connie gushed.

“I wonder how long it will be before we break you, you sweet summer child,” Lapis joked, giving Connie a half smile as she patted her head.

The minutes she released Connie, Bismuth grabbed the girl into a feet lifting bear hug.

“We’re glad to see you, Noodles,” Bismuth told her. “I am so excited that you’ll be living with us. I already learned how to cook so you just name what you want and I’ll fire up the ole’ stove and whip up whatever you’re hungry for. Do you like wild boar?”

“Um,” Connie began, trying to put her refusal delicately.

“Just kidding, Noodles,” Bismuth assured her with a hearty laugh, putting her down and patting her on the back. Connie was certain that if the hug didn’t leave a bruise the back pat did. “I thought some good old ribs would be a great way to celebrate you moving in here. Do you like buffalo?”

“Bismuth, if you managed to any part of the buffalo into that fridge I promise you that I will eat it all,” Connie informed her as she pointed to her normal sized fridge.

“And now I kinda what to do that just to see if you would keep up your end of the bargain,” Bismuth admitted.

“You want to kill an endangered creature just to see if Connie will eat all of it,” Lapis said coolly, arms over her chest.

“Well if you put it like that it sounds like a bad idea.”

“Okay, Bismuth, say it so it doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Lapis deadpanned.

“Hey Cub, I got you a present,” Tiger told Connie with a toothy grin that had terrified her as a child, but eventually she had gotten used to it. “Stick your hands out and close your eyes.”

Connie did as she was told, praying that she was about to receive a magical sword just like Lisa did.

Only Lisa wasn’t unprepared for the weight of the sword and didn’t fall down onto the floor, sword and all.

That did not stop from Connie from squealing in happiness when she opened her eyes and saw the humongous yellow sword. She picked it up, stood up and swung it over head.

“NO!” Doug shouted, racing down the stairs, having seen the sword from the balcony. “We agreed that Connie would have no weapons of any sort.” He tried to take the sword from Connie, only for him to be knocked over to his knees with the weight of it. “Are you kidding me with this?” he asked Tiger’s Eye who merely shrugged.

“Come on, Dad, it’s Mom’s sword,” Connie protested. “Therefore, I am destined---”

“What? This isn’t your Mom’s sword. She didn’t have a sword. She made blades out of the electricity she made from her gem,” Doug told her before getting a faraway look on his face, smiling wistfully. “I remember seeing her when she made a bow and used her blades as arrows, she was spectacular, like an Amazon.” His expression turned sheepish as he stood up and turned towards Priyanka who was giving an unimpressed look. “You’re pretty great too, honey. I mean not great. I mean not not great.”

“Doug, put the shovel down,” Priyanka said bluntly.

“You mean the sword?” Peridot asked in confusion.

“Wait Mom made her own ammo! Does that mean I can do that too?!” Connie asked excitedly, stars in her eyes.

“Eventually,” Bismuth replied. “All you need is to be trained and then who knows what you could do.”

“Not even your Mom, the smartest gem in the whole universe, could figure that out,” Peridot said, sounding just as excited as Connie did. “Just you wait, you’ll discover so much about your potential. As Terran Gems we are experts at learning about gems’ true potential.”

“No swords!” Doug cut in.

“Actually Connie learning how to use a weapon wouldn’t be such a bad idea,” Priyanka spoke up. Everyone stared at her. “I know. I can’t believe I said that either, but Connie’s powers react to her emotions. What if she is in a situation where she can’t use her gem abilities? If we are going to let this happen, she needs to learn how to defend herself with or without her abilities.”

“Really! Thanks Priyanka!” Connie exclaimed running over to her stepmother and giving her a big hug. She looked up her stepmother, grinning at her. “You’re the best.”

“You understand that if you get even a scratch I expect to be called,” Priyanka told her firmly, patting her hair as she returned the hug, a small smile tugging at her lips.

“Yes Priyanka.”

“Okay, but not this sword. A small one. Preferably one that she cannot hurt herself with,” Doug decided.

“Do you not know how swords work?” Tiger inquired, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Anyway let’s get Connie unpacked,” Priyanka remarked as three humans began making their way upstairs with Connie’s things.

“Bismuth, here are all the improvements Doug thinks you should make,” Peridot informed her, handing the black gem a piece of notebook paper.

“Peridot, this is written in gem and it is in your handwriting,” Bismuth noted, unamused at the green gem’s ploy.

“Well Doug agrees with me,” Peridot shot back.

“It’s gonna be weird around here with Connie. I mean it used to be just us. Now it’s gonna be the Terran Gems and Connie,” Lapis said, glancing up at the balcony where Connie was trying out the new bed.

“No,” Tiger’s Eye contradicted. “It’s going to be the Terran Gems: Tiger’s Eye, Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot and Connie.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me for the shortness of this chapter, it is a filler so in the next chapter we can jump four years and move onto plot relevant things.  
> As you can see the Terran Gem's relationship is a bit tense. It will get better eventually.


	4. Hello There, Baby Maheswaran

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a flashback, Heliodor reveals that she is pregnant. In present day, Connie gets her first taste of battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have decided to pull a Gilmore Girls and use phrases in the chapter as my chapter titles, the only exception being the prologue.  
> I just thought that was an interesting bit of trivia to share.

When Heliodor told her friends the news that she would have to give up her gem for the child she was carrying, to say they didn’t take it well would be a huge understatement. The understatement of the millennium. When Tiger’s Eye was ranting and raving about pounding Doug into a puddle for doing this to her Heliodor. Peridot was sobbing into Heliodor’s cape. Bismuth had stormed off to take her anger out on a couple of rocks, sometimes throwing them out to the ocean and other times smashing them. Lapis just stood there, her hand over her mouth, shaking with silent sobs.

“Please don’t leave us!” Peridot wailed, blowing her nose onto Heliodor’s cape. She glanced up at Heliodor sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Heliodor just rolled her eyes as she tore her cape out of Peridot’s hands. “Will you all please pull yourselves together! It is not the end of the world,” she snapped.

“You’re dying! That is the end of the world to us!” Tiger’s Eye shouted. She then bared her teeth. “If I ever see that punk again, I’ll clobber him.”

“You will do no such thing!” Heliodor commanded, stalking up to Tiger’s Eye, glaring at her. “Doug has done nothing wrong other than give me the greatest chance of my life. To finally make up for my miserable days as a destroyer and instead create something truly extraordinary.”

Tiger’s Eye averted her eyes and taking a few steps backwards before sitting down and wrapping her arms around herself.

“And what about us? Do you even care about us?” Bismuth demanded, stopping her senseless destruction of rocks to storm up to Heliodor, getting in her face. “How can you be so selfish and leave us like this? How could you leave me?” Two streams of tears were falling down her face. Embarrassed for crying, Bismuth ran away before Heliodor could call her back.

“Look it’s not like I don’t get it. The whole running away from your past of destruction thing. But there are healthier ways to make up for what you did. Like helping the creatures of this world like protecting their young, selling them nourishment, entertaining them, creating beautiful things for them,” Lapis told her tearfully.

Heliodor sighed. “I am sorry that I have upset you. It was not my intention to do so but I am not being selfish. Giving my life for this child will be the least selfish act I have ever make. I am creating something beautiful, something extraordinary,” Heliodor whispered, her glowing with happiness.

“What will happen to us when you’re gone? What will we do without you?” Peridot cried, sniffling miserably.

“You will raise my Constantia or Justus for me,” Heliodor told her, bending down so she could lay her hand on Peridot’s shoulder. “My Peridot, I want you to teach them everything they need to know. You have always collected knowledge and now you can pass that knowledge on to someone who will need your guidance.” This made Peridot cry harder, nuzzling Heliodor’s hand. Heliodor let her do so for a few minutes before she got up and placed her hand on Lapis’ shoulder. “My Lapis, you have done so much good to make up for your misdeeds, protecting Earth’s creatures better than I did. I can think of no other gem who would be more suited for showing my child the beauty and wonder of Earth.” Lapis nodded mutely, pressing her hand back onto her mouth, using her water wings to hide her face. Heliodor than went over to Tiger’s Eye, placing her hand on the gem’s shoulder. “My knight, my warrior, my Tiger’s Eye, I need you to teach my child how to be a strong leader, how to overcome their insecurities, how to balance themselves.” 

“I swear I shall guide them to the best of my ability,” Tiger’s Eye promised, bowing her head.

“Thank you all, I know I don’t say this enough but I appreciate each of you. I don’t think I would have come so far without the four of you by my side,” Heliodor proclaimed, smiling at them. “Now if you excuse me, I have to talk to Bismuth.”

With that, she turned and walked away, leaving the three gems to comfort each other.

* * *

Bismuth was at her forge, doing what she always did when she was upset, made weapons.

“I thought I might find you here,” Heliodor remarked.

“You found me,” Bismuth agreed, not looking up. “Now leave.”

“My Bis---”  
  


“Don’t! I don’t want to hear it!” Bismuth shouted, pounding the anvil to silence Heliodor. “I’ve been listening to your big speeches about why you’re doing the right thing and why this decision is the best way since we started fighting Homeworld. Don’t get me wrong, you make a heck of a speech, convincing gems to follow you, awakening their passion for freedom. But in the end of the day, you never know if you are going to succeed, if your decisions are the right ones or if they will just lead to us losing everything.”

“You knew the risks when you signed up. The corruption of our friends was unfortunate, I agree but what could I have done to prevent it? We were losing and running out of options,” Heliodor countered angrily.

“Let me use the breaking point on the diamonds,” Bismuth snapped.

“I told you before even if that wasn’t the most worthless weapon you ever created----”

“The adjective worthless was not used and you didn’t have to use it now just because we’re having an argument,” Bismuth interjected hotly.

“It was a weapon that could only be used close ranged and the gem would have had to be perfectly still for you to use it,” Heliodor ranted. “Regardless shattering all four diamonds would have been a disaster. Homeworld gems would have reduced Earth to ashes and then gone on their merry way, continuing to colonize other planets because that’s all they know how to do. With Yellow Diamond, there was a chance that they would have left us alone.”

“Well they certainly left us alone,” Bismuth grumbled.

“I know. Bismuth, this isn’t me running away from my mistakes, this is me wanting to make something new, something special,” Heliodor told her, placing her hand on her abdomen.

“More special than creating a rebellion against a horrible empire,” Bismuth scoffed.

“Yes,” Heliodor replied with conviction ringing in her voice. “My Bismuth---”

“You know there comes a point when calling gems my becomes less of a sign of respect and more of a manipulative tactic,” Bismuth remarked coolly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I wouldn’t use the honorific if I didn’t mean it,” Heliodor protested, shooting Bismuth an annoyed look. “Now stop interrupting me. My Bismuth, I need you to be there for my child.”

“How? Build them a house? Make them a weapon?” Bismuth mocked, turning away.

“By inspiring them to embrace who they are, to never hide makes them unique, to be who they want to be instead of what everyone tells them to be,” Heliodor replied passionately, placing her hand on Bismuth’s cheek. “I do make a lot of speeches, but when did you ever need a speech? You were the first gem I ever recruited and all I had to do was ask you if you ever wanted to be something other than what you were. You didn’t even need to be prodded to answer me truthfully. Because even before I made the Terran Gems, you already were one.”

Bismuth started crying again. “Darn, you’re good. You got me believing again,” she muttered.

“Oh you never stopped and you know it,” Heliodor laughed, pressing her forehead to Bismuth’s forehead, tears running down her face as well. “Promise me, Bismuth, that you’ll inspire her the same way you inspired me.”

* * *

Doug was pretty used to the gems' antics by now. He had met Heliodor when he was fresh out of the police academy and it had been at least five years since they had met when he was patrolling the boardwalk and had the unfortunate encounter with a corrupted gem.

He had spotted a child frozen in fear and had rushed to grab the child and take her to safety, shielding her when the corrupted gem charged at them.

Heliodor intervened before either could get hurt and Doug had made sure the child was returned to her frantic father. Then he had returned to the boardwalk to help the Terran Gems finish the monster.

Despite insisting that they had it under control and needed no help, Heliodor was impressed by Doug’s bravery and conviction.

One thing led to another and five years later, Heliodor decided she wanted a baby despite realizing that she would have to give up her gem in order for the baby to survive. Doug might not be afraid of danger but he still wasn’t reckless enough to show his face to the other Terran Gems as he was aware that they would blame him.

He was putting away his groceries when he heard the door open and minutes later, someone entered the kitchen.

“You know I could be a burglar, here to rob you,” Heliodor remarked.

“A burglar wouldn’t have such heavy footsteps, love,” Doug informed her as he closed the refrigerator door and started putting his away his caned goods. Heliodor was not usually one for pet names but she accepted love and Dora. “So how did they take it?”

“I would suggest you stay away from them unless you want to be pounded into a puddle, thrown into lava, drowned or impaled with something metal,” Heliodor replied bluntly.

“That bad, huh?”  
  
  
“I am afraid so. They just don’t understand why I want to do this,” Heliodor muttered, hitting her fist against the countertop in frustration. Luckily it wasn’t too hard, otherwise Doug would have to replace it again.

Doug sighed as she went over to Heliodor and sat down next to her, placing his hand on her arm. “It’s hard for them, love, they thought you’d be around forever and the idea of losing you is just too much for them to bear,” he told her softly. “I haven’t even known you for as long as they have and I just know I will miss you a lot.”

“Do you regret agreeing to having a baby with me?” Heliodor asked, cocking her head curiously as she searched his expression for any sign of reluctance.

“No, no, of course not,” Doug assured her, waving his hands in defense. “I am very excited to be a dad but I just wish that there was another way so I could have both of you.”

“I checked with the human doctor you sent me to and I even ran my own tests. The baby needs my gem to survive,” Heliodor told him.

The doctor had said the gem was acting like an umbilical cord, giving the fetus what it needed to survive. However, the doctor could not say whether or not the baby would be able to live without it.

“I know,” Dough said, taking her hand in his, squeezing it. “I promise you that I am going to be the best dad ever.”

“Well I wouldn’t have picked you if I didn’t think you were the best,” Heliodor jested, smirking. “I know that Constantia or Justus will be in good hands.”

“I thought we agreed on Connie or Justin,” Doug pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

Heliodor’s smirk became wider. “You call them what you want to call them and I’ll call them what I want to call them,” she said firmly.

“All right, fine,” Doug laughed, resting his head on her shoulder, placing her hand on her stomach. “All I know is our child is going to be amazing.”

“Of course they will, they will be part gem and part human,” Heliodor agreed.

“I meant because they will be yours and mine,” Doug clarified.

“Oh I suppose that’s true,” Heliodor said, glancing down at where his hand was, putting her hand on his. “Doug when I was in the waiting room, I saw a woman talking to her stomach. Apparently, she was talking to her baby. Do you think I should do that?”

“I don’t see why not,” Doug replied.

They decided to go to the living room where they sat down on the couch with Doug laying his head on Heliodor’s lap, as she had one hand on her stomach and the other in his hair.

She took a few minutes to compose what she wanted to say before she began speaking.

“Hello there, baby Maheswaran, I am your mother, Heliodor, but I suppose you already guessed who I was as only mothers can carry children unless they are horses of the sea,” Heliodor began rather awkwardly. Doug had to bit his lip to fight a smile at how adorable she was. “Anyway, my name is Heliodor and I am the leader of the Terran Gems. They are Bismuth, Peridot, Tiger’s Eye and Lapis. Now when you first meet them, they might be a little upset over my death, but I promise you eventually you will mean as much to them as I did.”

* * *

**_Twelve years later_ **

****

** Peridot **

**Gem Placement:** Forehead.

**Personality:** Excitable, knowledgeable, logical. Not very good with metaphors. Some form of OCD.

**Abilities:** Ferrokinesis, super durability mastery of the warppad system and can create robot buddies. She can store things in her gems.

**Theory:** Peridots are the scientists or alchemist of the gem species. May or may not be on the run for creating an experiment that destroyed a gem city. 

** Lapis **

**Gem Placement:** Back.

**Personality** : Easy-going, sometimes brooding, protective, a big-sister like figure. Likes to mess with Peridot a lot. Enjoys having job, seemingly just because it’s fun for her.

**Abilities** : Hydrokinesis, memory projection, super durability and super strength.

**Theory** : Lapises are the gardeners of the gem species. They nature and take care of the plant and animal life on the home planet of the gems. She accidentally flooded her village and was exiled as a consequence.

**Bismuth**

**Gem Placement:** Chest.

**Personality:** Boastful, playful, kind, understanding, loyal, loving and always has the most faith in me. Calls me Noodles because I’m not an ordinary Meatball.

**Abilities:** She can morph her hands into weapons and tools. Thermal resistant. Super strength, super toughness and a skilled craftsmith.

**Theories** : Bismuth are like dwarfs, they are miners and warriors. She got into an argument with the Bismuth ~~King~~ Queen and killed her in personal combat, ostracizing her from her group.

**Tiger’s Eye**

**Gem Placement: Nose and Stomach.**

**Personality:** Gruff, stern, hot-tempered, loyal, fierce and has a weird sense of humor. Really likes weapons, I'm surprised she and Bismuth don’t bound over that. She calls me cub because I’m her cub.

**Abilities:** Can summon a crash helmet, spin attack and can store things in her gem. Knows a lot of different fighting styles, can also do ballet. Knows how to meditate and all of the yoga positions. Super strong and super tough.

**Theories:** Tiger’s Eye comes from a race of rare two-gemed gems. She is the last of her kind, perhaps she got her eye injury from a fierce battle that wiped the rest of her kind out.

“Ahem!” Connie looked up from her notebook and saw Kiki standing in front of the table, giving her an apologetic smile, a pizza box in her hands. “Your order is ready. Are you sure you don’t just want to eat it here?”

“Lapis and Bismuth would never forgive me if I didn’t share your pizza with them,” Connie told her, putting her notebook and pencil into her book bag before pulling out her wallet and paying Kiki. After she had put that away, she put on her book bag and took the pizza box, making her way to the front of the store. “Thanks. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Bye Connie, stay cool,” Jenny called after her as she glanced up from her phone.

* * *

With that Connie made her way past the stores and towards the temple on the beach. She suddenly stopped when she heard a roar before breaking out into a run, adrenaline and excitement pumping in her veins.

Finally, her time had come!

Once she rounded the corner, she saw what the gems were attacking.

Green gems with wild white hair. They spat acid and Connie noted that some of them didn’t even have gems.

Once of them charged for Connie only for Peridot to slam a metal sheet on it, causing it to disappear in a green cloud.

“Lapis, get Connie to the temple!” Tiger’s Eye ordered as she used her helmet to slam into one of the gem monsters before doing a spin attack on another one.

“No way! I wanna help fight!” Connie exclaimed, putting her backpack and the pizza behind a rock so they would not get squashed by the battle.

“Connie, you are not ready yet!” Peridot protested.

“Where the heck are the gems on these guys!” Lapis snapped as she turned her water into spears, destroying three enemies at once.

“Nephrites can make copies of themselves as well as spitting acid,” Peridot explained. “It is possible that the Nephrite mother is not even here.”

“Oh wow, that is just perfect,” Lapis drawled sarcastically.

“Less talking and more smashing,” Bismuth commanded. “We can do this all day if we have to!”

“Let me help!” Connie shouted, willing her gem to work. “I am a Terran Gem too, you know.”

“You are a Terran Gem whether you can fight or not,” Tiger’s Eye said firmly. “That still doesn’t mean you’re ready.”

“Yes I am. Just make me mad and I promise you I’ll shooting out lighting that will poof all our enemies!” Connie exclaimed. “Come on, Lapis, insult me.”

“Uh, your hair is kinda messy,” Lapis tried. “But in a cute way.”

Connie glared at her. “Really?”

“Is it my fault you’re too cute to insult?” Lapis teased, flying over just to tussle Connie’s hair before she flew back into the battle.

“Your mother didn’t need anger to use her power, Cub, I mean it certainly helped but that’s not where she draw her gem abilities from,” Tiger’s Eye informed her as she began barreling through the Nephrites as if they were bowling pins.

“Noddles, I promise I’ll give you a sword and the next time a gem attacks the temple, you can fight with us but right now you need to get inside,” Bismuth told her firmly. “We don’t want anything happening to you.”

“I’ll be fine, if you just give me a chance!” Connie cried, growing frustrated. What was the use of her training if they didn’t even let her fight?

She turned around to grab her bag as it was the only weapon she had, only to see a Nephrite a few yards behind her, spitting acid as she raced towards the gems, fury in her eyes.

Connie didn’t even think about it, she just lifted her hands and within seconds a yellow force-field blocked the angry Nephrite from joining her fellow monsters in attacking the gems.

The Nephrite banged its fists against the force-field and Connie felt like it was pushing her down. So she pushed back, unwilling to let it through, wanting to prove to the Terran Gems that she could protect Earth just like them.

  
Letting out a yell, Connie pushed her force field forward with all her might, letting the light currents that made up her field blast the Nephrite, poofing her form and unlike the other Nephrites, this one left a gem.

“WOOOOHOOO! WAY TO GO CONNIE MAHESWARAN!” Bismuth hollered, running up to Connie and hoisting up onto her shoulders.

“Nice move, dude,” Lapis complimented her, holding up a hand for a high five which Connie reciprocated.

“Well done, Cub,” Tiger’s Eye said, nodding in approval.

“You should have let us handle it instead of risking yourself,” Peridot grumbled as she bubbled the gem and sent it away. She then noticed the three gems and one human shooting her an annoyed look. “I mean you’re awesome, Connie!”

* * *

Connie discovered pizza tasted even better after a victorious battle against evil gems. She wrote down the new information about Nephrites she had learned (maybe they were a race of dark elves or dark mages).

She then returned to her notebook, reading the first gem she had ever written about.

** Heliodor **

**Gem Placement: Center of her chest.**

**Personality:** Courageous, strong, loving, kind, smart, motherly, understanding, and amazing.

**Abilities:** Super tough, super strong, light destabilization, shapeshifting manipulation and much much more.

**Theories** : I think she may have been gem royalty but had to run away because of evil advisors or something like that. ~~She would have made a great Mom and she would have been very proud of me.~~

Connie sighed and closed her notebook before picking up her phone and hitting the number 2 on her speed dial.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Do we need to come over?” Priyanka interrogated her.

“Hi Priyanka,” Connie greeted her in a bemused voice.

“Hi sweetie, sorry, you usually don’t call until you go to sleep and it’s only seven o’clock now and I am rambling,” Priyanka said with a sigh.

“Yeah, you are,” Connie agreed with a giggle.

“So is everything all right? Do you need to talk to your father?” Priyanka asked.

“No, it’s okay. I just wanted to call you and I don’t know talk,” Connie suggested, wincing at how stupid she sounded. She wasn’t even sure why she had called in the first place.

“Well of course, we can. What shall we talk about?”

“Um, well I defeated my first gem monster an hour ago,” Connie admitted.

She could hear the sharp intake of breath from the other line. “That’s great, sweetie,” Priyanka said in a tone that usually meant she was freaking out inside. “Maybe we don’t mention this to your father until Sunday night dinner.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Connie agreed, pleasantly surprised at how well Priyanka was taking it. But then again, despite her great disapproval, Priyanka had more or less accepted that Connie would be fighting. Doug was a little harder to convince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not think Connie's full name is Constantia but I thought Yellow Diamond (is that spoiler)? might enjoy the Roman culture to the point where she gives her daughter or son a Roman name.  
> About corrupted gems, I know there are a few theories on why the corruption came to be. I decided just to do with it wasn't complete. (I'm not sure what Pink would have corrupted and that's why I had her opt out). With out Yellow Diamond, I think the gems would still look like gems with their mind and emotions being corrupted.  
> I had a blast writing Connie's theories for the gems and I hope you enjoyed them too. And just so you know in those descriptions was a little hint to actual spoilers for this story.  
> So any ideas on who might be the secret keeper for Heliodor?


	5. Like an Amazon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gems decide to show Connie around the temple and then they must find a way to destroy a Red Eye.

_The sounds of drums, the cheers of the gems and the roar of the fighters rang in her ears. Her fellow diamonds sat next to her: White looked bored, Pink looked excited and Blue looked regal._

_“My diamond,” one of Pink’s Quartz soldiers called up to her, “every victory I claim today shall be in your name.”_

_Pink giggled. “Isn’t that sweet? Tell me White, are your gems so loyal to you that they would dedicate their victories to you?”_

_“No, they usually just conquer planets in my name instead of wasting their time on silly little games,” deadpanned White, rolling her eyes. Pink glared at her and opened her mouth to say something when Blue intervened.  
_

_“White, Pink, behave,” Blue Diamond cut in; although her voice was no higher than a whisper, there was an edge of steel too it. “Sunlight, are you enjoying yourself?”_

_“Yes, Blue,” she replied, watching the Jasper and the Beryl in the arena as they circled each other. This was much more fun than some boring ball._

_The Beryl suddenly charged at the Jasper, swinging her war axe over her head. The Jasper did not move, grinning viciously as the axe came down and she caught it, swinging it up so it hit the Beryl’s face instead with enough power to send her reeling backwards._

_The Jasper then did a spin, crashing into her opponent before she could get her bearings back. But what happened next surprised everyone, instead of trying to evade the attack, the Beryl crouched down, opened her arms and took the full brunt of the attack just so she could grab hold of the Jasper and then she flung her to the ground, placing her foot on top of the Jasper’s chest as she reached for her weapon._

_It seemed that the orange gem was done for, only for her to use her helmet to headbutt the gem’s legs, knocking her off balance, then the Jasper jumped up, high above the arena before coming back down, helmet first, slamming on top of the Beryl before she could even move._

_When the dust cleared, the Beryl’s form had evaporated and the Jasper stood victorious, bowing to the balcony that held the four diamonds._

_“My Diamond, I have won the day for you!” Jasper declared._

_Pink clapped enthusiastically. “Do I not have the most perfect Jasper in all of existence?” she whispered._

_“She’s very good, Pink,” Blue agreed exchanging an exasperated look with White._

_The fourth diamond stared at the Jasper in awe. Such raw power. Such might. Her eyes shone with pride, not at the cheering fans but at winning another match. Yes, this gem was a warrior and one who lived for it._

_Pink certainly was lucky to have a gem like her in her court._

_“When will I get my own army? And my own colony?” she asked, curiously._

_“Soon, Sunlight, I promise,” Blue assured her, giving her a loving smile. “You’re not quite ready yet.”_

_“You always say that,” she grumbled._

_When would they let her prove herself? Why couldn’t they see she was one of them? She was just as important as they were._

_She glanced back at the Jasper who looked up at her and opened her mouth. Suddenly everything was silent and all she could hear was that Jasper._

_“Cub? It’s time to wake up. Cub? Breakfast is ready. Cub, if you don’t wake up right now, I might have to take drastic measures. Cub, I’m warning you, wake up now. Okay, Cub, I'm now bringing out the big guns.”_

* * *

A splash of water woke Connie right up. She glared at Tiger’s Eye and Lapis.

“Was that really necessary?” she spluttered.

“It woke you up, didn’t it?” Tiger laughed, ruffling Connie hair before she walked down the stairs, leaving Lapis to stand over Connie’s bed, her water wings spread out as if she was warning Connie what would happen if she dared to go back asleep.

“Sorry Connie but we got a full day planned and you know how Peri is about her schedule,” Lapis told her as Connie got out of the bed and went downstairs so she could shower and get ready for the day, having completely forgotten about the strange dream she had just before Tiger’s Eye had gotten Lapis to wake her up.

When she came out fully clothed, the gems were taking among themselves with Peridot looking quite unhappy.

“First things first, Noodles, since you are officially becoming a Terran Gem, you need a grand tour of the temple,” Bismuth told her with a grin.

“I would like it to be on record that I think this is a bad idea,” Peridot informed them.

“Don’t worry, Dottie, we have you on record as being a killjoy and a stick in the mud,” Lapis quipped.

“I do not kill joy nor do I resemble a branch of a tree that is in mud,” Peridot grumbled, her lips in a tight line. “I just think that our rooms could be a little dangerous for Connie.”

“I think she can handle our rooms,” Bismuth said with a sigh.

“Really? One of them is a watery death trap, the other is in a volcano, my room is filled with machines that could explode,” Peridot snapped. “The probability of Connie getting hurt in our rooms is very high. Even Tiger’s Eye’s room has a high potential to hurt Connie if she bumps into the spikes or the spears or the swords.”

“Peridot, I promise I’ll be super careful,” Connie told her, clasping her hands together as she gave the green gem the puppy dog eyes.

“Ugh, fine,” Peridot groaned, giving Connie an indulgent smile.

“First breakfast, then the tour,” Tiger said, picking Connie up and depositing her into a chair.

Connie never ate so fast in her life. She had to force herself to slow down a little least she started choking but as soon as she cleaned her plate, she jumped out of her seat and rushed up stairs to grab her notebook and pencil before hurrying downstairs where the gems waited for her in front of the temple’s entrance.

First, they went into Peridot’s room which looked something like a cross between military junkyard and like a room from one of those science fiction shows with all the machines that you had no idea what they did but they were there as a reminder of just how high tech the characters were. 

“How do you find anything in here?” Bismuth asked, stepping over bits of scrap metal.

“It’s called organized chaos,” Peridot replied. “Trust me I know where everything is.” As she spoke she began rifling through her desk, looking for something. “Where is it? Where is it? AHA! Found it!” She then pulled out what looked like a mechanical limb and she attached it to her arm, flecking its fingers before she pointed to a spot next to Lapis who was not paying attention.

Suddenly another Peridot appeared right behind the unaware blue gem and shouted : “PUT THAT DOWN, LAZULI!”

Lapis jumped in surprise, letting out a shriek as she sent water at----no through the second Peridot.

“Whoa you can make holograms!” Connie exclaimed, furiously adding that to the list of Peridot’s abilities.

“It took a lot of upgrades but eventually I discovered how to use the technology in my Limb Enhancers to create my very own holograms. I remember your mother’s face when she found out. She seemed just as excited as you did, she thought it would be very useful against…” Peridot trailed off, glancing over Connie’s head.

Connie didn’t need to turn around to know that either Bismuth or Tiger or maybe both were signaling for Peridot to shut up.

“Against who?” Connie inquired curiously.

“Uh, no one important. Just some bad gems,” Bismuth answered, waving her hand dismissively, walking over to another device. “Hey Dot, what does this do?”

“Oh it is my experimental PW: Portable Warp,” Peridot explained, running over to snatch it from Bismuth’s hands. “It is a work in progress and quiet delicate so I thank you not to touch it.”

“PUT IT DOWN, LAZULI!” the holographic Peridot shouted.

“Seriously? You made a hologram just to yell at me?” Lapis scoffed as she stood against a monitor several feet away from where the hologram was facing.

Peridot shrugged as she snapped the fingers of her Limb Enhancer, causing the hologram to disappear.

“So what else can your Limb Enhancers do? Can it shoot lasers? Can it shoot tractor beams?” Connie quizzed as she walked close to get a better look at the robotic limb, writing down what they looked like.

“Yes to both and so much more,” Peridot assured her. “When I was first given these by Ye---by someone else, they were only supposed to help me catch up with the other Peridots but I didn’t just catch up with those dull clods, I surpassed them!”

“Okay, so now that you have shown off your ego can we go to my room now?” Lapis requested, rolling her eyes.

Peridot pouted but she didn’t argue when Bismuth and Tiger agreed.

Lapis scooped Connie up and flew past Peridot’s machine until they were at a water slide like room. There was water everywhere, the only dry parts of the room had sculptures and paintings scattered around it.

Lapis set Connie down on one of the dry parts of the room which was right in front of one of the water slides. Lapis then laid down in the water playfully splashing Connie as she floated by. “So what do you think? Pretty cool, huh?” 

“Awesome! But out of curiosity, don’t you ever get sick of being around water so much?” Connie questioned.

“Nope. It actually relaxes me. Some times when I’m really stressed out or a certain green gem stress me out, I just come in here, close my eyes and just let all my troubles drift away,” Lapis explained.

The next room was Tiger’s Eye’s room. Compared to Peridot and Lapis’ room, it was pretty plain aside from the fact that it was filled with not only weapons but fighting equipment, yoga mats, a barre and a bunch of tea bags sitting next to a kettle. It reminded Connie of TV shows where siblings would share a room and it would be split down to the middle to contrast how different the siblings were.

“I like to be the expert in all martial arts, weapons, everything. A warrior can never be too prepared,” Tiger’s Eye explained passionately. “But also, it is always important to keep myself calm. Getting angry means getting sloppy and that’s something I don’t do.”

Connie jotted that all down dutifully as she walked around, taking notes on what she saw there. She stopped when she noticed something peaking out from behind a shield. She bent down and picked it up. It looked like a ribbon wand.

“Hey Tiger, is this yours?” she asked, hold it out towards the other gem. It seemed out of place in Tiger’s room as it looked more like a toy, one that she would play with when she was little. When she was younger, Tiger always used to play dress up with her but Connie always thought it was just to make her happy.

An odd look appeared on Tiger’s expression as she took the ribbon wand. “This was a gift from someone who I thought cared about me,” Tiger whispered, her hand touching the one that held the ribbon wand. “It reminds me of who I used to be.” She glanced at Connie and smirked. “It’s okay, Cub, you can write that down.”

Connie smiled sheepishly and wrote down what Tiger had said and also added to her theories about Tiger’s Eye, making note that it was possible that had been a gift from either an older love or maybe a mentor who turned to the dark side or tricked Tiger into doing something bad.

“Okay, now that we did you guys, I think it’s time for my humble abode,” Bismuth decided, after they had lapsed into silence for almost ten minutes.

To Connie’s surprise they had to leave the temple and get onto the warppad to arrive at a volcano. Bismuth used her gem to enter a doorway that took them to a forge.

“So you don’t have a room at the temple,” Connie said in surprise, trying to recall if she ever saw Bismuth enter the temple the way Lapis, Peridot, and Tiger’s Eye did. She remembered that there were six gems, surrounding the top of the temple gate, on a sun symbol so she assured that the black gem would stand for Bismuth.

“I do but I mostly just use that to cannonball to Lapis’ water slide. This is where I cool off whenever I feel heated,” Bismuth told her, standing in front of a molten lava pool. She hurried over to her anvil where she had made a hilt of a sword. “Now that your powers seem to be doing things other than cause blackouts, I thought you could use this.”

“Um, thanks,” Connie said, starting at the hilt, and than at Bismuth, wondering if it would be rude to ask where the blade was.

“Noodles, turn the hilt around and press it on your gem,” Bismuth instructed.

“Oh!” Connie exclaimed, realized what Bismuth was getting at. If her mother could turn her light currents into things like daggers or arrows than she could use the hilt to make her own sword.

She did as Bismuth instructed and tried really hard to concentrate on making her own light currents.

“Easy, Cub, don’t force it,” Tiger’s Eye told her gently.

“And don’t poop yourself either,” Lapis put in, teasingly.

“Yeah please don’t,” Peridot agreed, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Suddenly there was a beeping noise and Peridot turned on her com link, her eyes widening as she read something. “Guys, we have to go. My sensors just picked up a Red Eye coming to Earth!”

At once the gems all became tense.

“A Red Eye? Are you sure?” Lapis asked, worriedly.

“My readings are never wrong. We have to go now,” Peridot repeated herself.

“What’s a Red Eye?” Connie inquired.

“I’ll tell you about it later, Noodles. Right now, I gotta go find your mom’s Laser Light Cannon,” Bismuth told her.

“You don’t have to----” Peridot began.

“They are all in her room and we can’t get into her room,” Tiger’s Eye interjected.

“Actually---” Peridot tried again. 

“Well do you have a better idea?” demanded Bismuth. Peridot threw up her hands in exasperation and rolled her eyes, turning away from the group.

“Yes. Build another one,” Tiger answered bluntly. “Peridot, you can help. Lapis, Cub and I will see what we can do on our own.”

Surprisingly neither gem argued as they all returned to Connie’s house with Bismuth and Peridot disappearing inside the temple while Connie, Tiger’s Eye and Lapis ran outside.

In the sky, there was something that looked like a red dot which was getting closer every minute.

Connie wondered if it was some kind of gem bomb sent to destroy the planet. She was about to ask when Lapis spoke.

“Maybe if we used Actinolite, we can…” Lapis began.

“No too unstable,” Tiger’s Eye rebuffed her gruffly. “Unless you would like to cause the same amount of damage we did last time.”

Connie stared up at the thing that now looked like giant eyeball, thinking if she were bigger maybe she could grab it.

_Your mother was like an Amazon._

A mighty Amazon, big and strong, able to do anything, protect her friends from the biggest of foes.

“Uh, Connie?”  
  


“Cub!”

Wait, why did they sound so far away?

Connie glanced down and her mouth fell open. Tiger’s Eye and Lapis now looked like ants and one quick look around, made her realize that she was now towering over the temple statue.

“This is so cool!” Connie shouted, jumping up and down, causing the ground to tremble.

Tiger’s Eye jumped up until she was on Connie’s shoulder while Lapis flew up to join them.  
  
  


“Cub, remember what you did with the Nephrite. Try doing the same thing but towards the Red Eye,” Tiger commanded.

Connie nodded, a determined expression on her face. She turned towards the Red Eye, stretching her arms out and tried to summon the light currents. Nothing happened. Ugh, why did they never work when she wanted them to?

“Don’t think too hard, just feel,” Lapis whispered in her ear. “Just close your eyes. Relax and aim your hands at the giant eyeball in the sky that will destroy us all!”

Connie closed her eyes and tried to do as Lapis said. When she opened her eyes, she saw that gold light was hurling in the sky like a spear, turning into the vague shape of a woman and that it hit the Red Eye dead on.

Connie quickly scrambled to catch the falling pieces before they could hit Beach City, laying them on the beach when she got the ones that hadn’t landed in the ocean.

She then glanced at the house, guessing that she hadn’t been the cause of that light show. She was unfortunately proved correct when she saw Peridot and Bismuth standing beside a yellow cannon.

“'Go build one', she says. Like I wouldn’t have done that years ago, without Bismuth’s help, thank you very much,” Peridot ranted before glancing up at Connie. “Less importantly, why is Connie a giant?”

“I don’t know. I was thinking of being big and strong and the next thing I know, I was,” Connie explained.

“Huh, I remember your Mom could change a gem’s physical form, making gems bigger and stuff like that,” Bismuth said thoughtfully.

Lapis and Tiger’s Eye got off of Connie’s shoulders and landed on the beach, right next to the ocean. The now enormous girl suddenly got a wicked idea.

“Well you can change back, can’t you, Connie? If you don’t, you might have to sleep outside,” remarked Peridot.

Connie was no longer paying attention. She now stepped in the ocean, being careful not to move too loudly, causing Lapis and Tiger’s Eye to turn around. When she managed to get behind them without them noticing, she kicked the water, drenching the two gems.

“That was for this morning!” 

“Oh! You are gonna regret that!” Lapis exclaimed, using her powers to form a water giant of herself and started wrestling with Connie. Tiger's Eye just shook herself like a dog, causing her wild hair to get even messier.

“Lapis, be careful!” Peridot shouted worriedly. “If she turns small again, you could drown her!”

Bismuth and Tiger’s Eye just watched the battle, cheering on both Lapis and Connie.

“Try not to hit the house,” Bismuth shouted up to them when a wave crashed into the stairs.

Connie did not turn small again until her stomach started growling. Luckily Lapis managed to avoid hitting her and Tiger’s Eye caught her.

“I think somebody’s ready for an early dinner,” remarked Tiger with a fond chuckle.

“Wait it’s already dinner time?” Connie asked in surprise, glancing up at the sky which did seem to be getting a little pinker. “Wow, time just flew today.”

“I’ll say. We didn’t even get to do half of the things on my schedule,” Peridot grumbled.

“Uh, Dot, was saving the world on your schedule?” Bismuth asked.

“Huh, that’s a good point, Bismuth. I guess today was pretty productive,” Peridot agreed as they all returned to the house.

* * *

Meanwhile a van was driving out of town.

“Dad, did you see that?” a boy asked excitedly.

“See what, kiddo?” the older man inquired, turning off the radio to give his son his full attention.

The boy glanced back out the window and blinked. “I thought I saw a giant woman. She was beautiful.”

“That’s the same way I felt about your mom when I first saw her. Did I ever tell you that story?” the man questioned.

“Only a thousand times,” the boy replied with a goofy grin. “But I’ll hear it one more time.”

“Okay, so I was playing at a concert when suddenly I see this woman who is over six feet tall so she literally stood out in a crowd and she is gorgeous, pretty lips, pretty pink hair. Absolutely stunning,” the man gushed. He then noticed his son was craning his head out of the window, trying to see if the giant girl had reappeared when he wasn’t looking. Taking one hand off the steering wheel, he tapped his son on the shoulder so he would turn and look at him. “Don’t worry Schtu-ball, when we move to Beach City, you’ll see her again.”

“I hope so.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally the light cannon would have been with Doug as it was with Greg in the show but I just could not see Heliodor leaving something like that with Doug no matter how much she trusted him. Not to mention Priyanka would not have been happy with a cannon being in her basement whether or not it could be activated. I also suspect that Peridot would have made sure to keep their gem technology upgraded just in case there was an emergency such as this.  
> I hope everyone liked the Early Bird cameo of a certain boy. Originally he was not going to show up but the minute I had Connie become a giant woman, I was like Steven would be so happy so yeah, he was there, he saw her.  
> I would love to hear your thoughts on the gems and that flashback I wrote. What do you think of the diamond's personalities? What do you think Pink did to Tiger's Eye's components?


	6. Princess of Puddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie goes on her first mission at the Lunar Sea Spire.

Her first mission was today. Connie still couldn’t believe it. After spending more than four years living with the gems, she was finally going on a mission with them. This was hands down the greatest moment in her entire life.

To celebrate this day, Connie had ordered something very special to help her be prepared for anything the gems threw at her.

She was pacing around the beach impatiently and nearly knocked the mailman over when he appeared.

“Sorry Jamie, just got a little excited,” she apologized, hopping from one foot to the other, trying not to be rude, but at the same time desperately hoping that he had brought her special package.

  
“I can see that,” Jamie laughed, pulling off the mailbag and placing it on the sand in front of Connie, sorting through it. “Now let me see, do I have something for you? Perhaps you got a jury summons?”

“Nope.”

“Hmm? A loaf of bread with a stamp on it, perhaps?” Jamie asked in mock thought.

“Not lately,” Connie replied, before adding: “Jamie, as fun as this is, I am about to burst from excitement!”

“Well we can’t have that,” Jamie said, his eyes wide as if he was truly afraid of making her burst. He then pulled out a round parcel and handed it to her. “Here we are, Connie Heliodor Maheswaran.”

“YES! Thank you so much, Jamie!” Connie exclaimed, grabbing it, singing for it and then rushing towards the Temple, shouting goodbye over her shoulder.

* * *

The Terran Gems were waiting for her when she entered, although they seemed to be absorbed in their own conversation. 

“I don’t see what the big deal is. The cub has to learn to act under pressure,” the hulking apricot gem remarked.

“I understand that, but if we tell her it is a test, she might get stressed and wonder what we would want her to do, instead of relying on her own judgment,” Lapis pointed out.

“Besides, according to my parenting books, kids this age self-esteem is very fragile and if we aren’t careful, she might end up not convincing herself not try because she’ll always be a big fat failure!” Peridot exclaimed, causing the gems to stare at her. She blushed and clarified: “I’m paraphrasing a bit.”

“Although you guys make mostly good points, Noodles is very capable and whether or nor we tell her it is a test, I know she will succeed either way,” Bismuth predicted cheerfully.

“Well I am glad someone believes in me,” Connie spoke up from the doorway, causing the four gems to get a deer-in-the-headlights look.

“Hey Connie, how long have you been standing there?” Lapis asked, chuckling weakly.

“Long enough to know my first mission is a test,” Connie replied.

“Don’t worry, Cub, Bismuth and I believe in you,” Tiger’s Eye assured her with a toothy smile. “You’ll do fine.”

“I’ll do better than fine. I’ll ace the test!” Connie exclaimed jubilantly, rushing upstairs so she could pack the essentials.

“Well her self-esteem isn’t that low,” Lapis quipped.

“If you fail, we will still love you!” Peridot shouted after the girl.

Once she was in her room, Connie ripped open the package, grinning when she saw her new book bag. The old one had been destroyed in an unfortunate stove incident so Connie had used her allowance to spring for a new one. It was pink and white to match the colors of Lisa’s coat and it had three pockets big enough for books which meant Connie could check out three times as many books from the library. It also had smaller pockets useful for carrying around snacks, drinks and her pencil set.

But for its first outing, it would be used for supplies. Connie went through her mental checklist: sunscreen and a hat in case they were going somewhere hot, sweaters in case they were going somewhere cold, first aid kit, rope, an inflatable raft, two water bottles, a lunchbox containing pastry she had bought from the Doughnut Shop, her notebook and her lucky pencil.

She then put the bag on her back and hurried downstairs, where the gems were waiting for her, this time not arguing. She came to a stop in front of them and saluted. “Connie Maheswaran reporting for duty!”

“At ease, soldier!” Lapis commanded playfully, making the same salute.

“Okay, Connie, today’s mission is to put the Moon Goddess Statue on top of the Luna Sea Spire by midnight in order to keep the temple from falling apart,” Peridot informed Connie as she used limb enhancers to project an image of the temple.

Tiger’s Eye pulled the Moon Goddess Statue at out of her stomach gem and presented it to Connie. “As this is your mission, you are in charge of keeping the statue safe and putting it on its pedestal.”

Connie nodded determinedly. She quickly took off her backpack, set it down on the floor, took the statue from Tiger and put it in the bag, zipping it back up.

“Okay, I’m ready,” she declared, strapping her backpack back on, her eyes gleaming like stars.

Connie had been on the warppad before, when she was-three-years-old. She couldn’t remember exactly where she had warped to--- only a hazy picture of a large shape with glowing yellow eyes lumbering towards her flickered in her mind---but she remembered the blue light engulfed her, the feeling of joy at making it work just like the gems did, the feeling of awe as it sent her flying.

The emotions of that fateful trip rushed through her again as they warped to the spire.

Connie opened her eyes expecting to see the beautiful tower like structure she saw in Peridot’s projection. Instead what they saw was a crumbling building.

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. It has clearly degraded over the past hundred years and according to my scans there is structural instability,” Peridot remarked as the ground began to crumble beneath Connie. Lapis quickly grabbed her before she could fall. Peridot’s eyes widened and she rushed over to Connie and began to pull her towards the warppad. “Test over. We’re going home.”

“Oh, come on, Peridot, this just what Cub needs. A mission with actual stakes,” Tiger’s Eye remarked, grabbing Connie and setting her away from Peridot.

“Come on, Peri, I can do this!” Connie exclaimed, giving her a pleading look. “Haven’t I aced every test you’re ever given me?”

Before Peridot could reply, Lapis spoke up. “Besides we can protect her if her powers don’t.”

“What do you think, Bismuth?” Tiger asked, turning around to the fourth gem who had said one word since they had arrived. It was only the mention of her name did the Terran Gems and Connie notice that the black gem was on her knees, tears falling down her face and her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. “Seriously? You’re crying over this old building.”

“The Luna Sea Spire was the first thing I ever built on Earth. It was here that my life changed forever,” Bismuth whispered, her voice melancholic “I should have been making sure it was okay, but I didn’t want to come back after Hel…” Bismuth trailed off, glancing back at Connie, who suddenly found the ground very interesting. The black gem got off her knees and walked over to Connie, placing her hand on her shoulder, her eyes still glistening with tears. “We’ll fix it together.”

Connie smiled as she slipped her hand in Bismuth’s larger hand as they walked towards the spire. While Tiger’s Eye and Peridot walked in front, Lapis went beside Bismuth and Connie, cracking jokes to get the gem’s mind off the disrepair the spire was in.

Peridot suddenly came to a stop at the edge of the cliff, raising her hand to make the other gems stop as well, before briefly summoning some holograms with her limb enhancers. “If my readings are correct, the vortex designed to protect the Lunar Sea Spire is malfunctioning and it will pull us in. Tiger’s Eye, if you would please demonstrate.”

Tiger’s Eye picked up a piece of debris and threw it straight at the temple only for it to suddenly start falling downwards to the churning waters instead.

“So jumping and flying is out,” Lapis groaned, glancing down at the water with a glare as if it was an old friend that had betrayed her.

“Okay, Cub, you’re up,” Tiger declared, moving aside and beckoning her to stand between her and Peridot. “Part one of your test. How do we cross safely?”

Connie tapped her chin in thought as she glanced around, trying to come up with a plan She mentally went through her supplies again. She had rope, but she would something to grapple the other side with. She spotted a stone near by that looked like it would be the right size and quickly scooped it up in her hands before tying one end of the rope around it, making sure the knot was extra tight.

Careful not to be hit by it, Connie twirled the rock around before throwing it as hard she could while also keeping a tight grip on the end of the rope. She had aimed high, hoping that when it was pulled down, the rock would get wedged into the hole on top of one of the entrances. To her joy it did and when she tugged at the rope, it did not budge.

“Connie, while I applaud your out of the box thinking, that is too primitive of a device to be trusted to get us to safety when facing a gem-powered defense system,” Peridot protested.

Tiger’s Eye placed her hand on Peridot’s should preemptively stopping her from interfering with Connie’s plan. “The cub’s got this.”

As if to confirm Tiger’s words, the bespectacled hybrid took a running leap over the cliff’s edge, keeping a tight grip on the rope as her fall turned into a swing, and she managed to land inside a window semi-gracefully, sticking her hands out to maintain balance.

“YES!” Connie shouted jubilantly, pumping her fist in the air. “Take that the Spire, Connie Maheswaran is your master!”

She turned around to see the look of horrified shock still on Peridot’s face while Bismuth and Lapis clapped enthusiastically. Tiger just gave her a smile of approval.

“Hmm, let me try something,” Bismuth decided, before she used her shapeshifting to extend her arms until they could grab onto the hole, Connie had her rock in. “Guys, grab onto my back.” 

Lapis and Peridot grabbed each of her shoulders before Bismuth swung to the other side, letting out loud whoop as she did so. Tiger’s Eye, on the other hand, started to spin rapidly in place until she was a blur before hurrying herself forwards, moving too fast for the vortex to pull her down, crashing through one of the walls of the spire, causing it to shake and for Bismuth to make a little groan and put her head in her hands.

“I’m not asking for a lot, but could you try not to make the damage worse,” she hissed.

“That was amazing. Please don’t ever do it again,” Peridot implored Connie as Lapis ruffled her hair.

“You are nailing this, kiddo,” the blue gem assured her.

“Not that we had any doubts,” Bismuth remarked, scooping Connie up and placing her on her shoulders as they continued walking.

When they came to a section that seemed to have water and structural damage, they found Tiger’s Eye leaning against a pillar.

“What kept you?” she deadpanned as if she had been waiting for hours.

“We were congratulating Connie on her awesome idea,” Lapis replied.

“Cub doesn’t need to be told that she is awesome nor does she need to be carried,” Tiger said gruffly before walking up the stairs, not even waiting for Bismuth to sheepishly put her back down. “Now come on, the second part of your test is waiting for us.”

When her teammates had caught up with her, they found her standing in front of an infestation of white caterpillar like creatures scattered everywhere.

“Okay, Cub, these are Crystal Shrimps: their shards are deadly and we need to clear a path with them. So what do we do?” 

Connie thought about it. She knew her lighting powers or her force field would be really handy right now, but they were on a deadline so she needed a quicker solution. She wasn’t so sure there was anything in her backpack that would…unless. 

“Do I need to defeat them or distract them?” she asked.

“Use your intuition,” Tiger replied.

Connie nodded before opening her bookbag and taking out the lunchbox, grabbing the sandwich she had put inside along with some apple slices. She then split the sandwich into two, throwing one half in one direction and the other in the opposite direction.

At once, the Crystal Shrimp went for the food, clearing a path for the gems.

“Two out of two, Noodles, very good,” Bismuth complimented her, high fiving her as they moved on.

Connie grinned, pleased at how well she was doing.

Just as they had reached the top of the stairs when a wall to the side of them broke, causing water to come gushing out, creating a gushing stream of water.

“Trust my instincts,” Connie guessed. Tiger nodded. The human-gem hybrid thought about it for a few minutes before sighing and turning to the obvious solution. “Lapis, would you mind diverting the water?”

“Only if you use my full name,” Lapis said playfully.

“Lapis Lazuli, Water Witch, Goddess of the Oceans, Empress of the Seas, Queen of Lakes, Duchess of Rivers, Princess of Puddles, will you please divert the water so we may cross, your most gracious Majesty,” Connie recited as quickly as she could.

“You do realize that it should be Princess of Rivers and Duchess of Puddles because while---” Peridot began, only to be hushed by Bismuth.

“Well done, Cub, sometimes the most obvious solution is the best one even if it means asking for help,” Tiger remarked, smiling proudly as Lapis flick her wrist causing the water to flow up, allowing them to pass under the water safely and dryly.

They continued going up the winding stairs of the spire with Connie barely able to contain her excitement as they walked up there.

“I don’t like this, according to my readings the damage at the foundation is very severe. This whole place could come crashing down within minutes,” Peridot observed, sounding very anxious. 

“We’re almost there and the Moon Goddess statue will fix everything,” Lapis pointed out.

“Besides I am killing this!” Connie exclaimed.

Once they reached the top, Connie could not help but look around in awe at her surroundings, taking in the beauty of the moonlight dancing on the surface of the pillars of water.

“This is it, the Moon Goddess pedestal,” Bismuth proclaimed, her expression a mixture of sadness and regret.

“Okay, Cub, this part is all yours,” Tiger’s Eye told her.

“I don’t like this,” Peridot repeated herself as she pulled up an image of the spire on her holo-screen, notching the bottom was now red. “Maybe Lapis should fly the statue over instead.”

“No, this the cub’s test and so she has to be the one to do it,” Tiger said firmly, nudging Connie forward.

Starry-eyed and determined, Connie went up to the blue platform, opening her backpack to grab the Goddess Moon Statue, ready to put it in its place when suddenly the whole building shook, knocking the statue from Connie’s hands, causing it to roll away.

Connie went running after it, ignoring the gems’ calls to come back. When she saw it was close to falling off the edge, she made another running leap hoping to catch it. However, she misjudged the distance and although she managed to grab the statue, the momentum caused her to fall forward right off the top of the spire.

Thankfully, she was grabbed by a watery hand and brought back to safety, the statue still clutched in her hands. Lapis let her put the statue on the pedestal before bringing her back to the gems.

When Connie looked up, she expected the gems to look worried, but she was unprepared for the rage on Tiger’s Eye’s face nor did she expect the apricot gem to grab her and start shaking her like a rag doll.

“DON’T YOU EVER DO SOMETHING THAT STUPID EVER AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME!” Tiger’s Eye bellowed so loudly; spit flew out of her mouth.

The watery hand that had brought Connie to safety, suddenly grabbed Tiger and slammed her into a nearby pillar.

“Touch her again and you’ll be losing another eye!” Lapis growled as Bismuth wrapped her arms around Connie who was now shaken by Tiger’s fury, tears flowing down her face.

“We need to get out of here! The Moon Goddess Statue isn’t going to work fast enough to stop this entire place from coming down!” Peridot shouted.

“I’ll find my own way home,” Tiger’s Eye snarled as she jumped into the water below, not even looking at her teammates.

  
“Is she going to be okay?” Connie sniffled. She knew Tiger was a tough gem who had proven how resilient she was when she had crashed through several walls of the sire just to get in, but she also knew how anger could make a gem careless. 

“She’ll be fine, Noodles. Any chance you packed the raft?” Bismuth asked, hopefully.

Lapis grabbed Connie’s bookbag and pulled out the inflatable raft before giving the bag back to Connie.

They managed to blow it up and get on it before the entire spire fell down. Peridot used her fingers to provide a motor so they could be home faster with Lapis steering them clear of any obstacles that might get in their way. Connie curled up on Bismuth’s lap, resting her head on the arm with the tattoo of the sun.

“So I guess I failed,” she muttered glumly.

“What? No way. You passed three parts of the test,” Lapis pointed out. “That’s at least seventy-five.”

“Not to mention you would have passed completely if the spire hadn’t been in such bad shape. The only reason I would take points off is because you ran and jumped after the statue despite knowing that Lapis could have used her hydrokinesis to grab it before it fell. I’d say we take ten points off for that which is ninety meaning you still got an A,” Peridot calculated.

“But I still failed because the spire was destroyed,” Connie contradicted sadly. _Not to mention Tiger is mad at me._ “Wasn’t it an important relic of gem culture?”

“All it used to be was a meeting places of the upper-crusts who had nothing better to do than think and recite poetry and be snobs,” Bismuth informed her with a trace of disgust in her tone.

“Wait, what? Weren’t you the one who wanted it fixed?” Connie asked, her brow furrowing in confusion as she turned to give Bismuth a quizzical look.

“Of course, I did. That was where your mom and I first met, Noodles. Where she first inspired me to be more than what I was told to be,” Bismuth gushed. “It was where the most important moment of my life happened. But I just got swept up in those emotions, you know, reminiscing about the good old days. I don’t need some old building to remind me of your mom. I got all the reminders I need in here” Bismuth tapped her knuckles on her head before poking Connie on her nose. “not to mention my favorite gem-human hybrid in the whole world.”

“I’m the only gem-human hybrid you know,” Connie giggled.

“Still counts.”

“Oh, and Connie, if you are going to call the spire a failure, I want you to know that I read a parenting book and I have learned that failures are a part of life, a learning experience if you will. And believe you me, I have learned from every one of my failures,” Peridot explained with a warm smile.

“Huh, that was actually helpful,” Lapis commented with a smirk. "Who would have thought?"

“Thank you----HEY! What is that supposed to mean?!” Peridot demanded, her expression going from proud to offended within seconds.

“Nothing Peri, nothing at all.”


	7. Watched Pot Never Boils

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While still waiting for Tiger's Eye to come home, Connie spends the day with her dad for some much needed father, daughter time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so many plans for Priyanka and Connie relationship, I felt like I was giving Doug the short end of the stick so I wanted to have some scenes between him and his daughter.

Four days had passed and Tiger’s Eye had still not returned home. Connie kept glancing at the warppad, hoping that it would light up and the apricot gem would appear, assuring the hybrid she wasn’t angry with her anymore.

“Noodles, you ever hear the saying a watched pot never boils?” Bismuth asked rhetorically as she fixed her “kiss the cook" apron so it wouldn’t get caught on the stove while she put the skillet---which was also one of her hands--- containing the pork chops and zesty rice on top of it. “Tiger’s Eye will come back when she’s done being all broody and angry.”

“Angry at me, you mean,” groused Connie miserably, putting her head on her arm as she sat the kitchen table.

“She’s not mad at you, kiddo, she’s just upset because she was pushing you too hard and you nearly got hurt because of that. Once she calms down, she’ll come home,” Bismuth assured her.

Connie really wanted to believe the blacksmith, but it was hard when the last time she saw Tiger, the gem had not even wanted to look at her before jumping off the spire, swimming or walking to parts unknown.

Bismuth must have seen that Connie was not convinced because stopped what she was doing to give the girl a one-armed hug and a pat on the head before returning to the meal she was preparing.

The quiet that fell over the kitchen was interrupted by the front door opening. Connie jumped up, her eyes lighting up as she expected it to be Tiger’s Eye having finally returned. Her hopes were dashed when she realized it was not the striped gem, but her father standing in the doorway. “Hi Connie!” he greeted her cheerfully.

“Oh, it’s just you,” Connie said moodily, the disappointment palpable on her face. 

Doug Maheswaran looked taken aback and glanced around the house confusedly as if he had somehow entered the wrong one. He then closed the door and walked down the stairs leading to the beach.  
  


The bespectacled girl shook her head, guessing that her father wasn’t actually leaving. She couldn’t help but chuckle at his antics as he walked back up the stairs and reopened the door.

  
“Hi, Connie!” he greeted her in the same cheerful tone he had before.

“Hi, Dad!” Connie exclaimed, copying his happy voice before she walked over to him and hugged him.

Doug wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly, kissing the top of her head.

“Oh, I missed you so much, baby girl. I thought maybe we could go for lunch and spend the rest of the day together. What do you think? Can you spare some time for your dear ole dad?” he implored her, looking down at her with pleading brown eyes and even a pouting lip. 

Connie glanced over at Bismuth who turned the skillet and poured the contents into her own mouth as if it was a drink. “Sure, sounds like fun,” she replied, before walking over to Bismuth and saying in a hushed voice. “You know I could have had that for dinner, right?”

“Just go spend the day with your dad,” the black gem told her, giving her a playful shove.

“Let me just go grab my backpack and we can go, Dad,” Connie said before racing upstairs and grabbing her bag and sweater just in case it was cold outside.

* * *

Minutes later, the father and daughter pair were walking into Fish Stew Pizza with Doug promising to treat.

“You are a fan of a man with six wives. Is that what is cool with kids today? Rockstars who have harems,” Kofi mocked, not even noticing the new customers who had just walked in.

“Daddy, for the last time, he does not have multiple wives. He and his wife have a female partner!” Jenny shouted, sounding extremely irritated, looking as though she was about to tear her hair out in frustration.

She and her father continued to argue as Connie and Doug sat at a booth. Kiki came over to take their orders, shaking her head in exasperation at her father and sister.

“Just a plain pizza please,” Doug requested.

“Plain pizza? Come on, Dad, don’t be boring,” Connie pleaded in a teasing voice. 

“Boring? I am not boring,” her father protested, shooting her an offended look. “I will remind you that not only am I a private security guard, I dated a yellow amazon from space, swept her off her feet, won her over with my charm, made her weak---”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Connie interjected with a laugh, swatting her father’s arm. “Still. Maybe you can mix it up for once.”

Doug pursed his lips for a moment, thinking it over. “Hmm, well I suppose because we’re having a father/daughter day, I should get something special. What would you recommend?”  
  


Kiki had been patiently waiting for them to order and she seemed almost startled when the older man addressed her. “Uh, our fish pizza,” she suggested.

“Connie?”

“Well it would be new to you,” his daughter pointed out. Besides, she usually had pepperoni pizza so technically it would be different for her.

“Then we shall have your specialty,” Doug decided, handing Kiki the menus they didn’t even use.

“Okay, it will be right out. Anything to drink?”

Dough and Connie exchanged a look. “Your finest water,” answered Doug in a refined voice as Connie nodded in approval.

“Coming right up. Please enjoy our complimentary mozzarella sticks,” Kiki informed them with a fond smile on her face as she walked back to the counter, interrupting the argument between her father and her twin to tell them that they got an order.

“So after we eat, what would you like to do?” Connie inquired as they waited for their food.

“Whatever you want to do, sweetie. We can go to a movie, go to the bookstore and buy you a new book, go to Mr. Smiley’s Funland, collect seashells on the beach. Whatever you want, it’s our day,” Doug told her with a grin.

“Geez, Dad, are you dying or something?” Connie joked.

“Of course not. It’s just I don’t get to spend a lot of time with you anymore with us both being so busy,” Doug explained, patting her head.

Connie opened her mouth to refute him, only for the words to die on her tongue as she realized she couldn’t think of the last time they had spent together other than the usual Monday and Friday dinners.

  
She suddenly felt ashamed. “Sorry, Dad.”

“Sweetie, it’s okay. I know that you got a lot going on with gem stuff. I just want to be a part of your life too,” Doug assured her, giving her another hug. 

* * *

After they finished eating, Doug and Connie spent the rest of the day at Funland.

  
“This would be so much easier with Peridot around,” Doug grumbled as he threw a ball at the metal cans.

Connie giggled, remembering how both Lapis and Peridot would use their powers to win the carnival games and when Mr. Smiley tried to ban them, the green gem actually had the audacity to point out that there was no rule saying they couldn’t use their powers.

  
Mr. Smiley reluctantly conceded her point, allowing Lapis and Peridot to keep the prizes they had and then filled in that particular loophole by adding “no gem magic” in big black letters.

“You can do it, Dad, I believe in you!” Connie encouraged him.

Doug beamed at her and threw the ball again, this time managing to knock one of the cans down. Mr. Smiley handed him a unicorn keychain.

“I know it’s no alien plushie, but I hope you’ll like it anyway,” remarked Doug as he handed her the keychain.

“I don’t like it, Dad, I love it,” his daughter assured him, attaching it to her book bag so it could be proudly displayed to everyone.

Doug chuckled as they continued walking down the boardwalk, looking for more things to do.

“Hey sweetie, how do you feel about having a stepmother/stepdaughter day?” he questioned apropos of nothing.

“Did Priyanka ask you to ask me that?” Connie inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“No, because she doesn’t trust me to be subtle,” Doug replied and his daughter had no doubt that that was true. “I just think it might be nice if you had a day for yourselves like we are having one. If you want, it is completely up to you.”

“I guess, if she wants too,” Connie answered with a shrug.

“Honey, nothing would make her happier,” Doug told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Like I said before, we know you’ve got other stuff going on, but we are still your parents and we want to be a part of your lives.”

“I want that too,” Connie said earnestly. Yes, sometimes she felt they could be a little overbearing and sometimes too strict and she loved living with the gems, but that didn’t mean that sometimes she didn’t miss living with Doug and Priyanka even four years later. “Hey maybe, I could stay over on the weekends instead of just having dinner at your house two days a week.”

“That would be fantastic! Now come on, let’s ride the rides!” Doug exclaimed excitedly.

* * *

They spent the rest of the afternoon at Funland until Doug drove home, letting Connie make her way back to the beach where she found Tiger’s Eye sitting in the sand staring out at the ocean.

At first, the bespectacled girl didn’t know what to do, so she just stood there for a few minutes before sitting down next to the apricot gem.

“I’m sorry that I made you mad. I wasn’t thinking, I just reacted,” Connie said softly glancing up at Tiger’s Eye who had a far-away look in her eyes.

“You were thinking with your gut. Just like I told you too. I could have lost you and it would have been all my fault,” Tiger told her, her voice no higher than whisper.

“That’s not true. Lapis would have saved me,” Connie reminded her, reaching out to put her hand on Tiger’s arm, only to think better of it.

  
  
“You don’t get it. I kept putting pressure on you, I kept pushing you and you could have been hurt because of me,” Tiger growled, her hands curled into fists. “The worst part is I yelled at you. I was angry at myself and I lashed out at you. You didn’t deserve that. To be a victim of my anger just because I couldn’t control myself. I was acting just like _her_.”

“Who?”

Tiger suddenly straightened, turning to look at Connie, rather startled as if she just realized she was there. She titled her head for a few moments, her expression thoughtful. “You know your theories about us are fun to read. Bismuth gets a kick out of your theory about the Bismuth queen because she says that sounds like something that could have happened to her. However, you really have no idea what it was like for us. What we were and what we did.”

“Then why don’t you tell me,” Connie suggested.

“Because there are some things, we’re not ready to tell you yet and there are some things we know a smart cub like you is bound to figure out on your own,” Tiger explained, a half smile on her face. “Getting back to what I was saying before. I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard or lashed out at you, Connie, and I am sorry about that.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t push me that hard and as for getting mad at me, I know you were really just scared that I could have gotten hurt. I don’t blame you for getting upset,” Connie assured her, climbing into her lap and embracing her.

“It won’t happen again, I promise,” Tiger assured her before getting up and carrying the twelve-year-old up the stairs leading to the temple.

“So did I get anything right with my theories?” Connie questioned, wondering if she should be mad or not that they had read her notebook. However, she decided that she’d rather just focus on how to correct them.

Tiger chuckled. “I am afraid that we’re gonna have to let you figure that out by yourself, cub.”

Connie huffed, but reasoned she could always just ask Peridot who would undoubtedly love to correct her and lecture her about gem lore.


	8. Feel Small

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie tries to make herself big, only to end up feeling small.

Connie stared at her hand; her face scrunched up in concentration.

  


_Big. I want to be big._

Nothing, not even one of her fingers swelled.

  


The girl bit back a groan and glared at her hand, flexing her fingers, willing them to get larger.

  


  
A stream of water hit her face, nearly knocking her over.

  


“Hey! What was that for!” Connie complained, turning to glare at the blue gem who grinned cheekily at her.

  


“You were glowering at your hand so hard I was afraid you might light it on fire,” Lapis teased her, sticking out her tongue childishly. 

  


“Very funny,” Connie groused, as she wiped the water off her glasses, using her shirt to dry them.

  


“Hey, don’t be sore just because it doesn’t come easily. Maybe we should recreate the moment you went gigantic,” Lapis suggested using her water wings to grab Archimicarus the stuffed falcon and throwing it at Connie. Unfortunately, the gem hybrid was still cleaning her glasses and did not register the toy coming at her until it hit her in the face.

  


“Ow,” she said, rubbing the sore spot on her head, glaring at Lapis. “Could you please not do that?” She picked up Archimicarus and hugged him to the chest, silently apologize to the noble bird for Lapis’ rudeness.

  


“I’m just trying to help,” the blue gem protested, pouting.

  


“How is hitting me helpful?” Connie asked as she set Archimicarus back on her bed.

  


“Because I am giving you a reason to use your abilities,” Lapis explained as flew over the bed and grabbed the falcon, waving it above Connie’s head, keeping it out of reach of the girl’s hands. “Nyah nyah nyah! Can’t catch me!” she jeered as she began flying around the bedroom, stopping to shake the stuffed animal tauntingly.

  


Connie glared at the gem, reaching her hands as far as they would go, hoping they might stretch high enough to grab Archimicarus. Unfortunately, they stayed the same length and the hybrid grew more and more frustrated by the blue gem’s antics, well intentioned or not.

  


_Why can’t I get it? Why can’t I ever use my gem powers on purpose? It is so easy for them so why isn’t it for me?_

_…Because I’m not like them or Mom. I’m just a human who doesn’t know anything. I’ll never be like her, so powerful, so perfect. She was Heliodor, leader of the Terran Gems, defender of Earth. I’m Connie Maheswaran, a nobody._

“Connie! Connie!” Lapis shouted, sounding frantic.

  


The gem hybrid blinked. Why did everything get so blurry. She felt her face and noted that she no longer had her glasses. Then she shivered, feeling a draft of air that made her suspect her clothes were also missing. 

  


Before she could make sense of what was going on, a large blue hand picked her up. Connie squinted and she could just make out the fuzzy features of Lapis. She felt down her body to her gem and noted that the yellow hexagon gem on her chest that always made sure that she wore loose fitting clothes---to let her gem breathe as her father had once put it---was now about three times her size; which might not be that big considering Lapis could hold her in the palm of her hands.

  


“Connie, are you okay? I am so sorry. Oh, no, I made you feel small, didn’t I? Peridot is never going to let me live this down,” Lapis rambled. “I was only trying to help. Are you okay? Connie, say something.”

  


“How did I keep my clothes on when I went big, but not when I became small?” Connie asked, trying to process the logistics of it.

  


Whatever Lapis was going to say to that died on her tongue as Connie’s door opened and Peridot come in. The blue gem hid Connie behind her back as she turned around to smile sheepishly at the green gem.

  


“Lapis? What are you doing in here?” the forehead gem inquired, her brow furrowing quizzically before looking around the room. “Where is Connie? Her class starts in thirty minutes and she’s always twenty-five minutes early.”  
  


The girl in question had to bit back a giggle, thinking about how she would always come to her “class” early so she could talk about her theories about the gems and gage from Peridot’s expression whether she was wrong or right about them. Apparently, the green gem had been sworn to secrecy, but she was not able to keep herself from reacting to what Connie was saying.

  


“Uh, she went for pizza,” Lapis lied, trying to act nonchalant.

  


“No, she didn’t. I’ve downstairs for the past hour. I never saw her leave,” Peridot contradicted, her arms over her chest.

  
“Were you watching the stairs and the door the whole time? Or were you watching Camp Pinning Hearts on your tablet?” Lapis countered, her eyebrow quirked as she started to discreetly kick Connie’s clothes under her bed.

  


“Well no, but Connie would have said goodbye to me if she was leaving especially when we were going to have a school session,” Peridot reasoned, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

  


“Maybe she forgot,” Lapis suggested.

  


“It’s Connie. She is more excited about leaning than I am about teaching and that’s saying something,” Peridot pointed out. Then she frowned suspiciously. “What do you have behind your back?”

  


“Nothing!” the blue gem squeaked. She then coughed, getting her voice back to normal pitch. “Look Peridot, Connie will be back soon. Why don’t you believe me when I say she went out to get pizza?”

  


“You mean besides what I just said,” her teammate deadpanned. “Connie, wouldn’t leave without her glasses.”

  


Lapis glanced down at the glasses that were a few feet in front of her, unbeknownst to her. “Um, would you believe her eyesight got magically fixed?”

  


“Lapis Lazuli, where is Connie!” Peridot demanded, her tone growing louder. “Don’t make me get Tiger’s Eye!”

  


“Like I’m scared of her,” Lapis scoffed.

  


“LAZULI!”  
  
  
“Fine, but before you say anything, I would like to stress this is not my fault,” Lapis protested as she brought her hands around her back, revealing Connie who gave Peridot a meek wave.

  


Peridot’s eyes grew big as she stared at the mini-human, who was now no bigger than newborn kitten.

  


“WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BABY, YOU CLOD!” she shouted.

  


* * *

  


In the end, Peridot did get Tiger’s Eye and Bismuth, by screaming their names as she ran down to the kitchen, Lapis close on her heels still carrying Connie. The blue gem explained what had happened to the others.

  


“Here you go, Cub, best I could do on such short notice,” Tiger’s Eye told her as she handed her a shirt and pants that looked as though it belonged in a Disney movie where the mice wore clothes.

  


“I love them,” Connie assured her earnestly.

  


Thankfully, they were big enough to fit over both ends of her gem. Tiger’s Eye than sat down on the couch and began to knit something else, not even paying attention to Peridot as she lectured Lapis.

  


“I told you! I told you that her self-esteem was low. And what do you do, you decided to pick on her, taunting her like a stereotypical schoolyard bully. For shame, Lapis, for shame. You are such a _Pauline_ ,” ranted a furious Peridot, spitting out the last word if it was a curse word.

  


Lapis gasped dramatically, an offended expression on her face. “You take that back!”

  


“Peridot, stop yelling at Lapis, it is not her fault. It’s mine. I was bumming myself out when I shrank,” Connie interjected before the fight could get worse.

  


“What do you mean, Noodles?” Bismuth asked, reaching out to pat Connie on the head, only to realize that with her current size that might not be a good idea.

  


“My gem powers never work when I want them to. It’s so easy for you guys and I just feel like I’m never going to be as good as you or Mom,” Connie explained, rubbing her arm self-consciously. “I can’t help, but wonder if I am ever going to be able to do anything right.”

  


“Oh okay, who here felt like they weren’t good enough?” Bismuth questioned, rising her hand. Lapis and Peridot raised their hands as well, almost immediately. The black gem glared at her fourth teammate. “Tiger,” she said sternly.

  


“I’m knitting,” snapped Tiger. She then raised her hand for a second before returning to her needles, keeping her four eyes glued to her work.

  


“Not to mention, we have all had our moments when our abilities don’t work as we wanted them too. It took Lapis nearly getting shattered for me to use my metal powers correctly,” Peridot remarked. “And once when she was mad, Lapis nearly drowned…” she trailed off when the blue gem glared daggers at her. “The point is we just have had a head start on practice.”

  


“Remember the first time Hel used her growing powers on Peridot. She couldn’t figure out how to turn her back,” Bismuth chuckled, causing the gem hybrid to perk up in surprise.

  


“Hey, come on, she was having an off day,” Tiger protested before smirking. “And it didn’t help that Peridot running towards the enemy camps, shouting ‘who’s the runt now, you stupid clods?’”

  


“This isn’t about me or Heliodor, this is about Connie and how she feels,” Peridot said firmly before walking over to the table. “Look, we both know you are super smart, like almost my level smart, but you still need to go to school, don’t you?”

  


“Yeah.”

  


“Well it’s the same thing with your abilities. You just need practice and time and soon you will be using your powers as easily as you pass tests,” the green gem assured her.

  


“You really think so?” Connie asked, feeling a bit better now that she knew even her mom had difficulties.

  


“Of course, we do. We believe in you, Connie,” Lapis told her sweetly.

  


“And just so you know, you don’t need gem powers to be amazing. I mean did Lisa need gem powers to be a hero?” Bismuth inquired.

  


“No, she had magic and a familiar,” Connie replied.

  


“Huh, I think I need to read those books again,” Bismuth decided, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

  


Connie giggled and began to feel warmth in the pit on her stomach. Suddenly the room began to grow smaller, her gem no longer covered her body and her feet now touched the floor.

  


“Welcome back,” Lapis greeted her cheerfully.

  


“Feeling better now, kiddo?” Bismuth commented, patting her on the back.

  


“Much better. I think I’m going to put some clothes on now,” Connie decided, her cheeks red in embarrassment as she ran up the stairs.

  


“Don’t forget about our lesson,” Peridot called after her. “We are forty-eight minutes fifty-seven seconds behind schedule.”

  


“You are such a clod,” Lapis muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes.

  


Peridot looked as though she couldn’t decide what to be madder about: Lapis insulting her or stealing her catchphrase.

  


“Well at least I am not a Pauline, Pauline,” she sneered, making a mocking face.

  


“I AM NOT a PAULINE!”

  


“What’s a Pauline?” Bismuth wondered, leaning down to ask Tiger’s Eye in stage whisper.

  


“Don’t know. Don’t wanna know,” Tiger replied, putting her knitting needles back in her gem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To answer Connie's question, I didn't think of it and I would prefer to believe she wasn't naked when people who weren't gems could see her. This will be one of the only times, I won't try to come up with a good explanation.


	9. Pink's Champion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interlude on Homeworld.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you guys feel about me using more flashbacks and showing scenes on Homeworld?

Amethyst was bored. Pink Diamond’s colosseum was a towering oval building, made up of marble painted pink, because of course it was. According to Pearl, it had been built well over a billion years ago, because Pink had a wanted place where her gems could have some fun when they weren’t off conquering worlds.

The small quartz gem wasn’t allowed to participate though because Pink Diamond was afraid that she might get hurt. So instead she sat in the diamond box bored out of her gem, playing with the fingers of her gem enhancers.

Amethyst didn’t even look up when she heard the sound of laughter knowing what was going on as she had leaned the whole event by heart.

First, Spinel, the court jester, would come out do a little show with one of the organic creatures from the many zoos. Then Pink’s champion would appear making a declaration of winning the day for her diamond. Her opponents would come out one by one, sometimes they were gems and other times, organic creatures. If the champion won, Pink would loudly declare her the greatest of all gems, showering her with praise, sometimes giving her gifts. If the champion lost---well Amethyst didn’t actually know what would happen if they lost and got glared at when she joked that the champion should loose on purpose to mix things up a little.

A board sigh escaped her lips too fast for her to cover her mouth to stifle it.

“Are you not enjoying yourself, Amethyst?” Pink asked sweetly, turning her head to give the gem a concerned frown.

“No, I am,” the purple gem assured her, reminding herself what a great honor it was to be chosen to sit with the diamonds even if only one of them showed up. “I’ve just being feeling kinda restless of late.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“I feel like I nothing to do and I’ve just being standing around while everyone else are doing things,” Amethyst explained, looking down at her limb enhancers, hating how she was the only one of Sector-C Quartz soldiers who had to use them because she had come out off-color. “All the other quartz soldiers have a purpose. But you say I can’t fight so what’s my purpose?”

“Keeping me company,” the diamond replied with a giggle, patting her hair.

“But you have thousands of gems to do that,” Amethyst huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, glaring at a spot on the ground as if it had offended her.

“Oh, come on, little one, don’t frown, you look so much prettier when you smile,” Pink implored her, tickling her.

Amethyst batted her hand away. “I’m serious, Pink. Everyone in your court gets to do something more than just stand around. Even Pearl and that’s what she was literally made to do!” she exclaimed, scowling.

“Hmm, I suppose you have a point,” Pink agreed, stroking her chin, her expression pensive. “I guess I can look into some sort of mission for you. But for now, let us watch the fight.”

_At least that’s better than a no._ Amethyst decided as she returned her gaze to center of the colosseum.

When Pearl strode out into the arena, a pink cape around her shoulders, the crowd of gems cheered loudly, clapping their hands enthusiastically, some even pumping their fists in the air, chanting her title: “The Remarkable Pearl.”

Five thousand years ago, they had only done so in fear of incurring their diamond’s wrath if they did not cheer for her champion. Now they cared not that she was a pearl, for she had defeated many opponents in the arena, even beating an organic creature that was said to have caused irreparably damage to Pink’s last champion.

* * *

White Diamond glared down at the gem in front of her. Her eyes narrowed like slits and her black lips curled into a sneer.

“What do you mean there are none?” she demanded, wondering why she was so unlucky, to have to deal with such idiots all the time. Sometimes she thought she was the only one with any intelligence in this entire world.

“Forgive me, my radiant Diamond,” the Sodalite stuttered, her eyes darting about the room, wringing her hands nervously. “All the Peridots are on assignment. I could pull some out, but…” she trailed off, swallowing.

“But there is a resource shortage and gems like Peridots are in short supply,” White finished bluntly, closing her eyes for a millisecond.

_Oh, Yellow, in order for your revenge to succeed, we need your gems, but because you are gone, we don’t have many of them. I wonder if you would have found that irony amusing. Don’t worry, my Yellow, I will avenge you no matter how long it takes, that miserable planet will be destroyed by your creation. You would be so happy if you knew._

The white gem cleared their throat, causing White’s piercing gaze to return on her. “If I may make a suggestion?” she enquired, waiting for the diamond to nod before she continued speaking: “Because we are merely checking on the Cluster, perhaps we could just send a gem with limb enhancers programed for this mission.”

“I will discuss it with Blue Diamond,” White said, waving a hand to dismiss her subject who quickly exited, looking quite relieved to have ended a meeting without her being shattered.

White Diamond summoned her guards to walk with her to Blue Diamond’s palace, mentally preparing herself for what she was sure to be a most tiring discussion.

Her Topazes opened the door leading to Blue’s room, standing outside to wait for her.

Blue Diamond’s Pearl stood a few feet behind her diamond, wearing a blue dress and a matching veil draped over her face. Blue Diamond’s dress started off light blue and then grew darker. Her hair was hidden under her hood. The only light was through the windows that had been boarded up, causing the room to be shrouded in shadows.

_She’s not crying at least._ White thought dully, wincing as she knew that could change very soon.

“Blue, I must talk to you,” she announced, not even bothering with a greeting. It was best to get things over with instead of drawing it out. “According to Sodalite, all Peridots are on assignment and cannot complete the mission on Earth.”

“All of them?” Blue repeated, not taking her gaze off of the mural of Yellow Diamond she had made on her palace wall: it showed the young diamond reaching out towards a solitary world as if she was desperately trying to grab it before it fell to the ground and shattered. “White, I think perhaps it is more likely that their handlers don’t want them to be send to Earth. After all, we all know what that wretched planet does to gems.”

White Diamond frowned, not liking the notion that she might have been misinformed. She would send her Howlite to look into the matter so she could punish those who might have lied to her. “Well we need to send someone,” she snapped. “The Cluster should be ready to emerge soon and we must be sure that it does so we can avenge Yellow!”

Blue pressed a hand on the silhouette of the fallen diamond, caressing it as if it was made of light instead of stone. “Whenever I was sad, she would tell our Pearls to sing for me to make me feel better, only to burst into song herself. She pretended to be so hard and strong when in reality she was so brittle,” she whispered, tears rolling down her face, causing White and Blue Pearl to also cry.

“There is still time if you wish to make a trip to Earth to say goodbye to her one last time,” White offered in a soft voice.

“That’s a nice thought, but no, I want nothing to do with that planet. I gave it her, White. I sent her to her death!” Blue sobbed, letting out a mournful wail as a blue light emitting from her, slipping out of the windows, affecting every gem on Homeworld.

“Yellow warned us. She warned us that the Terran Gems were too dangerous. They were mad, all of them, but I never suspected they were capable of shattering diamonds. Yellow insisted that they would never stop fighting or recruiting other gems and that it wouldn’t end well if we kept fighting them,” White recalled.

“Maybe if we listened to her and left the Earth for those despicable gems, she would be still alive,” Blue Diamond murmured.

“We didn’t listen and now she’s gone forever,” White said bluntly, her eyes filled with cold fire. “We have already wiped out her murderers and now we can terminate the Earth. Then Yellow can rest easy, knowing we have completed her revenge.”

Blue Diamond finally turned to look at White, wiping her tears from her face. “You have my permission to use whatever gem you can find to check on the Cluster,” she decided, her hardening. “Let that worthless planet feel the pain my Sunlight felt.”

White nodded stiffly before leaving Blue to grieve as she always did: in a dark room with only a pearl to keep her company.

Once White had scoffed at how the oldest diamond was acting. Now she wished she could join her. But she couldn’t because she had a gem empire to run and a sister to exact retribution for.

* * *

When Pink Diamond heard that White was looking for gems with limb enhancers and a rudimentary knowledge of how Yellow’s experiments worked, she had eagerly suggested Amethyst for the job and then she learned where the purple gem would be sent.

“Absolutely not. There is no way, I am going to let you go on this mission!” she exclaimed.

“But you promised!” Amethyst protested, her fists clenched as she stared up at her diamond with an aghast expression.

“That was before I learned that you would have to go to Earth,” Pink told her, as she paced around her throne room.

“So what? The rebels were obliterated and even if they weren’t, I could handle them!” the smaller gem countered.

“Amethyst, listen to me. That planet does something to gems. Drives them crazy. I have heard of a Lapis who completely destroyed a squadron of gems, some of whom were her own teammates for no discernible reason. The last thing I would want---”

“That is a load of shards, you don’t want me to go to Earth because I am an Off-Color runt and you think I’m too weak to be useful!” Amethyst shouted, stamping her feet on the ground.

Pink’s hand connected with Amethyst’s face with a loud crack, sending her sprawling to the ground. “DO NOT SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT!” she shouted, looming over the smaller gem, fury in her eyes.

“My diamond!” Pearl called from the doorway, still dressed in silver armor. “May I speak to you for a moment?”

It was like a switch had been thrown, Pink Diamond instantly calmed down and walked over to Pearl and the two of them began to furiously whisper as Amethyst lay on the ground, cupping her stinging cheek, trying not to give into the tears that were threatening to leak out.

Finally, Pink Diamond sighed, turning to look at the purple gem. “I’ll discuss it with Blue and White,” she said gently, offering no apologies for hitting the other gem before she walked out of the throne room, leaving Pearl and Amethyst alone together.

Pearl crouched down next to Amethyst, examining her gem to make sure there was no damage. “Are you all right?” she asked, grasping Amethyst’s chin so she could get a better look at her face. It wouldn’t be the first time Pink’s screams left damage to a gem’s physical form even though the gem itself was fine.

“I’m fine. Blue Diamond must have had another meltdown,” Amethyst replied, as rubbed away the wetness on her cheeks, pretending not to notice that Pearl’s face was completely dry.

“Don’t worry, Amethyst, I’ll convince Pink to let you go to Earth,” Pearl assured her.

“Trying to get rid of me, P?” Amethyst teased.

“Ha. Just try not to get your self killed, okay?” pleaded Pearl with a fond smile. “I mean then I would have to come and rescue you and that would very embarrassing.”

“Oh please, if anything, I’d probably have to rescue you,” the shorter gem snorted, shoving her playfully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know in Momswaps, they don't usually explain why Pearl or Amethyst are chosen other than plot reasons. Here I gave Amethyst a reason to want to go and two reasons for why other gems weren't chosen.  
> What do you think of the diamonds? What about Amethyst and Pearl? What do you think about the differences and similarities of their personality?  
> What do you think of the backstories I've been hinting at?  
> Next chapter: STEVEN!


	10. The Spirit Morph Saga and Dogcopter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie makes a new friend.

It was a normal, average day for Connie. She had just finished training and she was looking forward to some pizza before class with Peridot. When she entered Fish Stew Pizza, she was greeted not by Kiki, but by her twin sister.

“Would you like to be seated at your usual booth, Madame?” Jenny inquired in a hoity toity voice, having draped a dish tower over one arm as she held the menu to her chest, doing a little bow to complete the farce.

“Okay,” Connie replied with a giggle. She glanced around the restaurant noticing that Ronaldo was in his usually spot showing his blog to an unfamiliar black-haired boy with a pink headband and a red shirt with a star on it as she followed Jenny to her “booth”. “Where is Kiki?” she questioned, not able to locate the other Pizza daughter.

Jenny rolled her eyes. “She’s sick and I had to practically force her to not to come to work. Like sis, I know you are the good and responsible twin, but seriously you’re contagious and gross so lie down and get some beauty sleep so you can be your gorgeous self again,” she said, shaking her head in exasperation with a smile tugging at her lips. “Had to tell her my plans were cancelled because she was being all guilty and remorseful---as if she purposely got sick--- and was saying: ‘but I promised I would do your shift so you could hang out with Buck and Sour Cream’; like I don’t hang out with them every day of the week.” 

Connie felt a little bemused at how Jenny seemed to be more annoyed at Kiki for apologizing for being sick than she was that her plans had to be cancelled so she could do both her and her sister’s shift.

“Can’t they come over here?” she suggested as she sat down.

“Nah, Daddy, don’t like it when I talk to my friends while working. He says they distract me. Considering they usually buy pizza when they are here, I would think he’d be okay with that,” Jenny groused as she pulled a notepad from seemingly nowhere, now with a British accent: “So what will it be, luv?”

“Hmm, I’m thinking of being a little controversial so a slice of Hawaiian pizza and a water please,” Connie ordered.

“Have you ever thought of trying a soda?” Jenny inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“I would, but my parents say that soft drinks will cause cavities,” Connie explained.

Jenny stared at her incredulously. “You don’t even live with them and you still follow their rules,” she spluttered. When Connie nodded, she sighed. “Girl, even Kiki doesn’t follow every stupid rule----”

“I can hear you!” Kofi shouted from behind the counter.

“Water it is.”

With that, Jenny walked towards the counter to rely Connie’s order to her father.

Connie pulled her book out and starting reading it as she waited for her food to come. She had gotten through half a paragraph when the hairs of her neck began to prickle, getting the sense that someone was watching her.

She looked up and saw that the pink headband wearing boy had left Rolando and came to a stop in front of her table.

He had the decency to look sheepish. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just I think I saw you before, but you were bigger,” he rambled, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

“Bigger?” Connie repeated, her brow furrowing in confusion, wondering what the boy meant by that.

“Not in a bad way. I mean not that there is a bad way,” he stammered, looking as though he wanted to crawl in a hole and die. He then took a deep breath and tried again. “I meant I saw you when you were like twenty feet tall or something. My sisters thought I hallucinated, but I didn’t, did I?”

“No, I was twenty feet tall. Or about twenty feet, more like twenty-one,” Connie confirmed with a small chuckle.

The boy’s eyes lit up. “Wow, that is awesome! So are you like a giantess or a goddess?” he asked excitedly.

“No, I’m half-gem.”

“I have no idea what that is, but I think that’s very cool,” he gushed, then he slapped his forehead. “I’ve been talking without even introducing myself. I’m Steven Universe.” He extended his hand for her to shake.

“I’m Connie Maheswaran,” the hybrid replied, shaking his hand. “I like your headband.”

“Thanks. I like your bracelet. It’s nice to meet you too,” Steven told her. “So, do you have any other powers then growing tall?”

“I do, but they don’t work too well,” Connie admitted, hoping the boy wouldn’t ask her to show him. She still remembered the destruction she had caused, the last time she tried to show off. Thankfully, none of the Pizzas had held it against her, not even Kofi---although he did request that there be no gem magic in his restaurant ever again. 

Before Steven could reply, Kofi came over with Connie’s water. “Excuse me, did I hear you say you were Steven Universe? Would your father be the rockstar with multiple wives?” he inquired, narrowing his eyes.

Steven chuckled in an embarrassment.

“GUNGA, DAD IS BEING RUDE!” Jenny shouted towards the kitchen.

“It was just a question,” Kofi snapped as he put down the drink down and walked back the counter.

“It’s not as weird as it sounds. My dad met my mom at a concert and then she introduced him to her girlfriend and---okay that does sound pretty weird when I say it out loud,” Steven admitted.

“Well I’m being raised by four space alien sentinel rocks along with my dad and my stepmom and I guess technically I am my own mom. So if anyone is the weird one…” Connie joked.

“That actually sounds pretty cool,” he disagreed with a shrug of his shoulders.

“It was just a question-ow—okay, okay, I’m going. Just stop hitting me,” demanded Kofi as he went back over to the table with Jenny and Nanefua behind him, the latter holding a fish in her hands like one would hold a stick. “I am sorry for being offensive, please accept a complimentary pizza on the house.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Steven assured him.

“See Mom, he wasn’t…” Kofi trailed off when Nanefua raised the fish menacingly. He quickly turned around and smiled at Steven. “We insist.” He then began walking away, grumbling about how he was only curious.

“Welcome to Beach City, Steven. I hope I can meet the rest of your family soon,” Nanefua said politely, shaking his hand as did Jenny.

“I know you probably get this a lot, but your dad is so cool,” Jenny gushed, grinning so widely, Connie was surprised she hadn’t asked Steven to get his dad’s autograph for her.

“Thanks. I think so too.”

“Do you get that a lot?” Connie questioned once the Pizzas were out of earshot.

“Yeah. Although, that was pretty tame,” Steven informed her.

Soon they were sitting and comparing their families. With Connie talking about her life with the gems and Steven telling stories about his life with his sisters, moms and dad on the road. They even started to have a discussion about their favorite things: The Spirit Morph Saga and Dogcopter.

* * *

Connie was almost sorry to cut their conversation short when she realized she needed to get going to get to class with Peridot. They said their goodbyes talking about meeting up again tomorrow and Connie made her way back to the temple.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t even see the figure coming out of the ocean until it had knocked her over.

The gem-hybrid only had a few seconds to think before it came again and she managed to throw up her forcefield, stopping the light brown and blue gem monster from attacking her. Instead of being deterred, she continued to throw her body at the forcefield, groaning in pain every time she did so.

“Ugh, what did I do to make you so mad at me?” Connie wondered as she struggled to keep her concentration. 

The monster only growled in response, swiping uselessly at Connie’s arm before returning to hit the yellow energy, trying to break through.

“HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!” someone shouted as the gem monster was hit by a rock.

“Steven, what are you doing?!” Connie shouted at the black-haired boy as the gem span around to charge at the person who had thrown the rock.

“Well you left your book in the restaurant and I was trying to help, but now I see that may have not been the best idea,” Steven replied, very quickly as he began to run, finding shelter behind the giant hand that had fallen off of the temple statue and Bismuth had gotten tired of reattaching.

The bespectacled girl didn’t hesitate jumping in between the gem and her new friend, trying to get the creature’s attention back on and away from Steven. She decided to put her non-magical training to use and aimed a flying kick at the monster’s head just like Tiger had taught her.

Of course, Tiger would have sent the gem sprawling to the ground, Connie only managed to knock it a few feet away.

The gem let out a roar that caused the ground to shake before it leapt at Connie. A burst of yellow light explored from the girl’s hands and zapped her attacker, leaving nothing but a gem behind.

Connie blinked, looking down at her hands, unsure if that had actually happened.

“Whoa, you were incredible! I’m so sorry I got in the way. You took down that thing like it was nothing,” Steven complimented her excitedly as he emerged from his hiding place.

The girl blushed. “It was nothing.”  
  
  
“Nothing? Noodles, I have never been more proud you in my life!” Bismuth declared as she jumped down from the stairs, holding a squirming Peridot in her arms, one of her hands over the gem’s mouth, only releasing her once they were in front of Connie.

“See, I told you she didn’t need our help!” Lapis exclaimed as she flew down.

“Who is he?” Tiger growled as she stared at Steven with a suspicious expression, somehow managing to get behind Steven without him noticing.

“Steven Universe,” Steven introduced himself, looking more awed than afraid of the intimidating gem. “I guess you guys must be Bismuth, Peridot, Lapis and Tiger’s Eye.”

“That’s us, the Terran Gems, the Defenders of Earth,” Lapis agreed, striking a pose.

“Can we please bubble Orange Spodumene before she attacks Connie and you clods don’t lift a finger to help,” Peridot snapped, glaring at the Terran Gems especially Bismuth who had physically restrained her during the fight.

“She had it under control,” Bismuth pointed out, patting Connie’s head. “In fact, why don’t you go ahead and bubble this one.”

The preteen nodded, focusing on the memory of Peridot sending away the Nephrite away, making the same motions the green gem did, grinning when she managed to make a bubble before sending it back to the temple.

She returned to find Tiger’s Eye and Lapis had began interrogating Steven.

“So did you and Connie share a pizza?” Lapis questioned, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

“Why did you follow her home?” Tiger demanded, glaring.

“Nothing much and to return her book,” Steven answered.

“Are you seeking to court---?” Peridot began before Bismuth wisely slammed her hand over her mouth

“Okay, I think you guys can return to the temple now!” Connie decided, feeling a bit flushed.

Bismuth grabbed Peridot in one arm and Lapis in the other, waiting until Tiger had started walking away before following, shooting Connie an apologetic look.

“So what was that?” Steven asked. “The thing that attacked us, I mean.”

“I don’t know exactly. All I know is that they are like the gems expect they mindlessly attack us,” Connie explained before her face scrunched up as she touched her bracelet, remembering how the gem Peridot had called Orange Spodumene had reacted when she had asked why it was so mad. It had tried swiped at her arm where she had her red bracelet. Was it possible that the gem had been trying to tell her that she wanted the bracelet and that’s why it was attacking?

If so, that would mean she wasn’t as mindless as Connie had originally thought and that just gave her a lot more questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to give Steven an unconventional family. Originally it would have been his mom had a girlfriend who was not involved with Greg, but I felt like that was just the Greg, Rose and Pearl relationship so instead Greg is part of a thruple. 
> 
> Besides fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, Steven has gotta have more than one mom. That's just a fact of life. 
> 
> I have no idea who come up with the Steven wears a pink headband thing, but I am stealing that because I think that is something Steven would wear.


	11. Like Your Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie and the Terran Gems go looking for a gemstone in a upside down pyramids.

Connie was focused. Connie was ready. Connie was so excited for her first official mission! This was going to be so awesome! She could hardly stand it. 

Unable to contain herself, the hybrid let out a squeal of excitement as she ran down the stairs, jumping off the step and landing on the floor with a thump. When she saw the gems, she saluted them. “Connie Maheswaran, reporting for duty!” she declared.

“At ease, Cub,” Tiger told her, patting her head. “Get everything you need?”

“Yep. I am all ready to kick this mission’s butt,” the girl assured her.

“We applaud your enthusiasm, but please try to be careful. Unlike us, your bones can be broken,” Peridot reminded her.

“Un-huh. You do realize that while we don’t have bones, we can still break our gems,” Lapis pointed out cheekily.

Tiger grimaced, reflective touching her cracked eye. Neither Lapis nor Peridot seemed to notice, instead arguing over whether or not gemstones were on the same level as bones.

“You know we could just leave them here. Go on the mission, and then be back before they finish,” suggested Bismuth in a low voice so only Tiger’s Eye and Connie could hear her.

“Well they do know where we are going; I guess we could just let them catch up,” Tiger agreed with a shrug.

Connie shot them both a disapproving look. “We’re a team, and we don’t leave anyone behind,” she hissed. Bismuth and Tiger’s Eye exchanged an astonished look, much to the gem hybrid’s confusion. “What?”

“You sounded just like your mom right now. I mean that’s exactly what she would say, and how she would say it,” the black gem commented, looking almost proud.

Connie’s chest puffed out, a smile tugging at her lips, pleased at the notion that she was like her mother.

“Not to mention she is part gem, that has to give her some added durability,” Lapis retorted, causing the room’s other occupants to return their attention to the argument happening before them.

“I would prefer we didn’t have to test that theory!” Peridot exclaimed.

“Hey, can you guys stop talking about me like I’m not here. Or better yet, instead of discussing whether or not I can break my bones, let’s focus on the mission,” deadpanned Connie dryly, growing slightly annoyed.

The two feuding gems had the grace to look shamefaced as they both mumbled an apology before the Terran Gems headed to the warppad. They arrived at what looked like a field of giant strawberries with swords littered about the ground.

“What is this place?” Connie asked, grabbing her notebook so she could draw a quick sketch of her surroundings.

“Well it used to be a gem battlefield. This place was once filled with death, despair and destruction. Now,” Tiger’s Eye paused as she looked around, a wonderous smile that made her usually hard features soften considerably. “now it is just beautiful. That’s what I love about the Earth. How it can change something horrible into something wonderful.”

Lapis chuckled, twirling around to face her teammate. “You can be such a softie, sometimes. It is adorable,” she teased.

Instead of getting annoyed, Tiger just shrugged, still in a daze of bliss. Bismuth on the other hand looked disgruntled.

“Look at all of these beautifully crafted swords, left around covered with goo and butterflies. Oh geeze, and they have no protection from rain,” she rambled, growing more flustered with every word before coming to a stop, nearly causing Connie to bump into her. “You guys go on without me, I gotta rescue my babies.” 

“Bismuth, can’t you do this afterwards?” Peridot questioned in an exasperated tone, her hands on her hips. “They’ve been here for seven thousand years. They can wait another hour while we recover the gemstone.” 

The black gem nodded sheepishly, but continued to glance over her shoulder as they walked to the Pyramid Temple.

“Hmm, is there any reason why it is upside down?” Connie asked curiously, her pen hovering above the paper, ready to jot down the answer.

“I dunno. I just built it for uppercrust gems, I didn’t ask questions,” Bismuth replied, shrugging dismissively. And yet she looked happy that unlike Sea Spire, the structure was at least intact.

“It was used for high ranking soldiers to hone their skills. Just as much to test their critical thinking skills as it was for them to practice their fighting,” explained Peridot. “It can be unpredictable at times so nobody should touch anything. Got that _Lazuli_?”

The blue gem in question merely stuck her tongue out.

Tiger’s Eye pulled out a small pyramid piece and placed it into one of the pyramid’s slots, allowing a door to form at the temple’s base. She then stepped aside to let the other go first, snatching Connie’s journal from her hands, and placing it inside her gem.

“Hey! What was that for!” the hybrid demanded.

“Sorry, Cub, I know you like writing everything down, but this mission needs your undivided attention,” the apricot gem told her firmly.

Connie pouted, opening her mouth to argue, only to shut it, deciding that her mother wouldn’t have let her be distracted by anything when she had led the team. Therefore, she had to do the same.

However, she couldn’t help but scowl even more when they entered the temple, and she caught sight of the carved images on the ceiling. The mural depicted her mother leading a charge against an unknown gem. Connie really wanted to draw it in her journal.

“Don’t worry, my scanner will take a picture,” Peridot assured her as she used her limp enhancers did just that. Connie beamed at her, clapping her on the shoulder in gratitude. 

“You’re the best.”

A cat like smug expression appeared on the green gem’s face, her chest puffed out in pride. But soon the look changed to a cat whose tail had just been stepped on as the temple began to shake and rumble.

“I didn’t do anything!” Lapis declared from where she was standing next to pedestal with a floating triangle on it.

“Did you flip the triangle over?” Bismuth accused, as she protectively wrapped her arms around Peridot and Connie, shielding them from the falling debris.

“I only lightly touched it,” Lapis protested, contradicting her earlier words.

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING!” Peridot bellowed as they began to float upwards, being sucked into a hole in the ceiling.

The Terran Gems fell down through a corridor, and landed on the floor on the other side.

While the gems got up no problem, Connie’s legs felt like jelly, and she felt strangely lightheaded, also a little nauseous.

“Kiddo, you okay?” Bismuth queried worriedly, helping her stand.

“Yeah, fine,” Connie lied, not wanting them to think she was sick, and therefore needed them to carry her throughout the mission.

Thankfully, she managed to stay standing, and both the nausea and the dizziness was fading. _It was probably just the fall._ She mused as she glanced around her surroundings.

The hole that they came out of was now sealed off. They were in a circular room that was surrounded by sixteen triangular doors.

“Looks like we will have to split up,” observed Lapis.

Peridot frowned as she pulled out six robonoids from her gem. “As much as I hate to agree with the gem who got us trapped here in the first place---”

“I was curious so sue me,” the blue gem grumbled petulantly, her arms folded over her chest.

“---I can’t seem to locate the exit so we are going to have to explore the rooms. My robonoids can each take one, leaving ten for us. If we go into pairs of two, we should be able to find out the mystery of this place,” Peridot finished, not even acknowledging the interruption. 

“Well what are we waiting for! Let’s get started!” Connie proclaimed. 

“Just remember, that behind each door there are death traps that will require thought, and not just punching through walls, _TIGER’S EYE_!” Peridot admonished.  
  


  
The room’s other three occupants turned around just in time to see Tiger’s Eye body slam into a wall, trying to break it down.

“It was worth a try,” the hulking gem muttered, running a hand through her wild pinkish-white hair. “Okay, Lapis, you are with Bismuth. Peridot, you go with Connie,” she ordered before entering the nearest door.

“Hey! I said we should go in pairs!” Peridot yelled after her.

Bismuth and Lapis simultaneously shot her an incredulous look over their shoulders as they left.

The green gem groaned before she and Connie made their way to one of the rooms. Once they entered, the door closed behind them. A door on the other side of the room glowed, and random tiles on the floor begins to light up all around the room

“Okay, so we have to stay on the glowing path,” opined the bespectacled girl as she tried to memorize the pattern.

“Or I could just fly us both over,” Peridot suggested, her helicopter fingers twirling.

“Yeah, sure that works too,” Connie groused, blowing her bangs up with a huff.

“Look, I know you think I’m being too overprotective,” Peridot began, as she hovered a few feet in the air, using her free hand to lift Connie in the air, by the scruff of her neck. “I suppose, maybe I am a tad overprotective. But it is not like I don’t know you are capable. I just don’t like the idea of you getting hurt.”

Connie sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as they flew to the other side. “I know. I just want to be able to be like you guys and my mom,” she admitted.

“Well if it makes you feel better, I spent a lot of time worrying your mom was going to get herself shattered,” Peridot informed her as she set Connie down before landing herself. “and I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have wanted to do it the easier and safer way either.”

Despite herself, the girl chuckled, only to suddenly fall sideways as the temple rumbled. Peridot quickly grabbed her to steady her. “Are you okay? Did you need to sit down? Are you about to vomit?” she quizzed, using her limb enhancers to scan Connie’s body.

“No, I’m fine. I don’t know why I am feeling so dizzy all of a sudden,” Connie uttered weakly, placing her hand on the wall for added support.

“We don’t have to leave right away if you need a minute or five,” reasoned Peridot.

  
“No, no, I’m fine. Let’s just keep moving.”

Despite being skeptical, Peridot acquiesced, stilling sneaking glances at Connie as they went to the next room.

“Are you sure, you don’t want to rest for a moment. I mean it looks pretty tame here,” she noted, gesturing to the empty chamber.

“What would my mom say if you asked her that?” Connie teased, deciding to keep her hand on the wall as they walked, just in case she felt ill again.

Unfortunately, that turned out to be a big mistake. For when her hand touched a section of the wall that that triangles on it, it sank into the wall, and the ground shook again, causing Connie to fall forward.

Then the ceiling began to lower as sharp, deadly spikes descended toward them. Peridot quickly used her ferrokinesis to keep them at bay as they ran under them. Managing to get to exit out of breath, but unscathed.

* * *

Just when Connie thought that maybe it would soon be over, she and Peridot stepped into a very familiar room.

“Wait, what? We are back where we started!” Connie exclaimed.

“That makes no sense. We walked into a straight----my babies!” Peridot cried in horror, spotting her barely functioning robonoids in a pile on the ground.

  
“Didn’t they go in the separate directions,” Connie mumbled, her brow furrowing in confusion, swallowing the bile that was coming up her throat. _Maybe I am sick._

“You got to be kidding me! How did we end up back here! Why is everything I built turning into a place of nightmares!” Bismuth ranted.

“Well maybe if someone didn’t act like a child touching the stove when their mother says it’s hot, we wouldn’t be here in the first place,” Tiger’s Eye sneered.

“Oh shut up, like you never did anything stupid, Miss maybe I’ll seduce the Queen of Ireland!”

“She seduced me!” 

“You know instead of crying over your robots, you could try to figure out how to get us out of here!”

“You think I haven’t been trying. And you are one to talk, going on and on about your precious structures which you hated building in the first place!”

“I AM SENTIMENTAL, OKAY!”

Connie could barely focus on who was talking as everything seemed to be spinning. Spinning? Was it possible that…?

  
Struggling to get herself off the floor---which she did not remember collapsing on---Connie put her forefingers in her mouth, and whistled loudly, causing the chatter to stop.

“Guys, what if the rooms are spinning us around so no matter where we go, we always end up back here,” Connie speculated. 

“If that is the case, then whatever is controlling these death chambers is below us,” Peridot chimed in, her eyes lighting up in thought.

“Well one way to find out,” Tiger’s Eye proclaimed as she and Bismuth hit the center of the room as hard as they could with their fists, causing the floor to break, and for everyone to fall down to hidden lower room filled with spinning upside-down pyramids, orbiting around a central floating obelisk embedded with a gemstone.

“Connie, your brilliance never ceases to amaze me,” Peridot complimented, clapping her hands in delight. “This is amazing. A gem powered mechanism that actually spun as around like we were on the tea cup ride in Funland.”

The gem hybrid grimaced, remembering her experience with that ride. “Well that explains the nausea and the dizziness,” she reflected, with a self-deprecating snort.

“Hey you were feeling sick, probably getting a headache from us bellowing, and you still managed to figured it out. I don’t think even your mom could have done it like you did,” Lapis praised her, beaming at her.

Connie shrunk down, feeling slightly overcome by the proud looks the gems were giving her.

“As much as I love telling Noodles how amazing she is, can we please get the gemstone so we can get out of here. I have about a thousand swords that need urgent care,” Bismuth implored them.

“Yeah and once we get home, I have a fun story to tell Connie,” Lapis said in a coy tone, smiling wickedly at Tiger’s Eye.

“For someone who just went through several death traps, I would think you wouldn’t risk something that could be fatal,” Tiger growled, her teeth bared as she shot daggers in Lapis’ direction.

The blue gem just laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really would like you guys to take note of the dynamic between the gems and Connie. Much like Steven was a therapist, Connie is already the designated parent. They also rely on her to be the logical one.  
> Also I have no idea where this came from or if anyone will even know the show let alone catch it, but I paraphrased two lines from Legends of Tomorrow.


	12. Phoenix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie makes a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shout out to the reviewers who made me realize that a bird was the best option for multiple reasons. A special shout out to B3astCutt3r, RavensphirSeltos and Hardcasekara, who inspired Connie's new companion. Both for the kind of bird and her abilities.

_She is hunting today. She has not done so in many moons. Although feasting on carrion is all well and good. She longs for the thrill of the chase, the thrill of the hunt, a reminder that she is alive._

_The sun beats down on her feathers as she flies through the sky, peering at the land below, searching for a rabbit or perhaps a mouse. No, rabbit was better, faster. It would give her a challenge._

_Her eyes land on a rabbit, hopping around, just three miles north of her._

_However, before she can fly towards her prey, something prickles at her._

_This was something that she had not felt for a long time. She pauses in the air, her eyes searching for the source._

_Could it be?_

_Many moons ago, she had been feasting when suddenly that curious prickling feeling had started at her talons, went to her beak, and moved down to her tail feathers. She had known, somehow, that the cause of this strange feeling was not because of the Yellow One, but instead her hatching._

_The Yellow One’s hatchling was small, and she seemed scared as though she had been pushed from the nest too soon._

_She had raced to her, eager to mother her as she had to her own chicks, but before she could get there, the Yellow One’s fledging had been carried away by a burst of blue light, leaving her alone again._

_So she had waited, hoping the Yellow One or her hatchling would return.  
  
  
They could be a flock together, soaring in the sky, showing off their radiance to the world. _

_Now after so long, that feeling returned. She scours the desert, looking for the hatchling._

_She snorts in pleasure when her eyes land on the fledging, walking with the rest of the Yellow One’s flock, not even two miles from her._

_She flies as fast as she can, determined not to lose her again. She lets out a cry of joy as she swoops down, her talons ready to snatch the hatchling up, and carry her back to her nest._

* * *

“I did not think this through,” Connie decided, as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

“You mean the whole bringing a heavy bag full of water bottles to take to the desert when you could have just asked me to give you water if you were thirsty,” Lapis opined, an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, I am not sure that I would actually want to drink the water that you make,” Connie told her with a grimace. “It would be kinda weird. No offense.”

“You’re weird,” Lapis shot back, using her water wings to splash the gem hybrid.

“Can you two, please focus? We need to get to the temple so we can collect the Desert Glass,” Peridot narrated.

“Right. Sorry. Just give me a minute,” Connie pleaded as she put her bag down, taking out one of the water bottles and drinking it.

As she put the water bottle away and put her bag back on her back, the gems huddled around Peridot as they tried to figure out the coordinates to the desert temple.

Suddenly a dark shadow fell over Connie. She glanced up and saw a gigantic yellow condor flying towards her. As it flew it seemed to leave a trail of fire in its’ wake like a phoenix.

Connie was so transfixed by the bird that she didn’t realize that it was going for her until its’ talons had attached themselves to her backpack, and was already flying away.

The bespectacled girl looked down, ready to scream for her guardians, only for it to die in her throat when she noticed how high up, she was.

_Well, it can’t get any worse._ Connie thought, seconds before she heard the unmistakable sound of fabric ripping. _Okay, I deserved that for blatantly tempting fate._

She closed her eyes as she began to plummet downwards, praying to every deity she could think of that her gem powers would keep her from dying.

To Connie’s surprise, instead of hitting the hard ground, she landed on something soft.

Keeping her eyes closed, she used her hand to feel her savior. It was definitely a bird, probably the one who kidnapped her. The feathers felt surprisingly warm like she was sitting on a heated car seat.

Suddenly she was soaring through the sky, her wings spread out fully. She could feel someone on her back, touching her feathers. She could see her nest sitting on top of giant yellow hand. 

Connie opened her eyes, staring at the yellow back of the condor as it continued to fly.

“Did I just see through your eyes?” she asked. The bird grunted before going to roost in its---no her---nest, allowing Connie to slide off her back. Connie stared wide eyed in astonishment. “That was amazing. Can I try it again?”

The bird snorted, and nuzzled Connie’s hair which the girl took as her giving permission so she reached over, and touched her feathers again.

It was rather unnerving to see herself, just standing there, limp, her eyes glazed over. Instead of focusing on herself, she turned her gaze outwards, and trying to find out just how far she could see.

As she continued to look, she spotted the Terran Gems. They were searching desperately through the sand and the sky, looking freaked out, as they shouted for her. 

Connie opened her eyes again, still stroking the bird’s feathers. “My friends are looking for me. Can you take me to them?” she requested.

The condor grunted, shaking her whole body.

“Oh, come on, please,” Connie begged, letting her lip tremble. “Do it for me?”

Another grunt, but this time the bird turned, and leaned forward for Connie to get on her back.

Connie grinned, as she straddled the golden bird as if she was a horse, even patting her neck just before she took off.

Once the bespectacled girl was sure she could keep her balance, she stretched her arms out as they soured, feeling the wind as it blew past her. When they flew through a cloud, she made a grab for a part of it, feeling slightly disappointed that it didn’t feel any different than mist.

The bird landed far too quickly.

“Connie!” the gems shouted as she got off the bird.

Lapis reached her first, picking her up and hugging her. “Don’t ever scare us like that again.” Connie was then embraced by Bismuth, Tiger’s Eye and Peridot in turn.

“One minute you were there and then you were snatched up before we could do anything,” Bismuth observed, looking perturbed. “What is that thing anyway?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t look like a gem. Let me grab a feather, and we can find out,” Peridot suggested, walking over to the bird, and tried to pluck a feather only for the bird to hiss and nip the green gem with her beak. “Connie, tell your bird to give me a feather.”

“May I have a feather please?” Connie requested.

The bird preened, before depositing a feather on Peridot’s head, making another hiss at her.

“All right, let’s finish this mission, and never mention losing Connie for a second time to Doug or Priyanka,” Peridot decided firmly as she put the feather in her gem.

“Before we go, guys, can I keep her please?” Connie pleaded, hugging the bird, not wanting to lose her, especially when she suspected the bird might be related to her mom.

“Well, I guess we could build a nest for her back on the temple,” Bismuth suggested, rubbing her chin.

“Wait, wait, are we really going to let Connie keep the bird after she tried to kidnap her?” Lapis asked in surprise. 

“Why not? We kept Peridot,” Tiger’s Eye pointed out with a dismissive shrug.

“HEY!”

Connie let out a whoop, giving the bird another hug.

“So what are you going to name her?” Bismuth inquired curiously, walking towards them, holding out her hand, letting the bird see her, before giving her a pat.

“I was thinking Phoenix,” Connie replied.

“Nerd!” Lapis teased.

Connie just grinned.

  
“Mission,” Tiger’s Eye reminded them as she walked towards the sand temple.

“Do you like the name?” Connie asked the newly dubbed Phoenix as she slid off her back.

Phoenix snorted, preening Connie’s hair.

The gem hybrid decided to take that as a yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided not to go with an eagle because I felt that they and falcons are chosen a lot. A grey parrot would have been good too, but I wanted a bird that Connie could ride.


End file.
